The Other Side of Dreams
by FireDarknessLove
Summary: This is a story based on a lucid dream. A witch running from her past accidentally joins DWMA. ... That's all, I don't want to spoil it. But it should be fun! :) Maybe OCXKid and/or OCXPatty, but definitely OCXLiz. Please R & R!
1. Chapter 1- What's Your Name?

Hey, thanks for looking at this! Sorry bout the summary, I just cant figure out how to say it all...

Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters from Soul Eater, or the backround plot. I only own my four OC characters, the point of view on the story, and the plot where Soul Eater ends.

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The wind rushed wiped through my dark brown hair, and threw my bangs into my face. My feet pounded the dry sand, sinking with every step. My legs burned, and my eyes teared up against the hot desert air. Still, I ran on. I can't stop. Stopping is signing a permission form for my execution. You see, I am running from my brother, Kou. Here, let me explain from the beginning.  
My name's Ash. I am almost 15, and am five feet tall and 80 pounds. That means I am very tiny, so I look a lot younger then I am. And as for why I am running, it all starts with my family. My mother was a witch. She died giving birth to me, the youngest child. My dad was a shinnigami. He died 7 days ago. I have two older brothers. The oldest brother is named Ashura. I have not seen him in years, not since I was really little. That was when he joined Lord Death's group. I have not heard from him since. My other brother is Kou. He is really rude and annoying, and he loves to beat me up. But that's not the worst of it. He's insane. Seriously, clinically insane. My dad told me it runs in the family. I hope I don't catch it. Anyway, we don't really get along. So when Dad died, he blew up. He told me it was my fault, and started throwing things. I was really sad and scared, so I was already on edge, so when he started shouting, I just... snapped. I burned him. Yes, I burned him. You see, that mix of witch and shinnigami created a weird breed of people. Ashura turned out completely normal, as far as I know. Lucky him. Kou became something we call an angel. He directs light. (I know that seems very nice, but he uses it to hurt. Light can really hurt.) I am an "elemental witch". Instead of commanding an animal, I command an element... fire. So when I said I burned him, my fists burst into flames and fire shot from my palm to his chest. He screamed, and fell down, his the skin on his chest boiling under the heat. Naturally, I freaked out. I never used my powers, and I had never hurt anything. So I ran. I ran as far as I could, through the wood behind my house. I heard him scream behind me, "I will kill you Ash! I will hunt you down, if it takes my whole life!" And my family never breaks a promise, even horrible Kou.  
So I ran. On and on, through the woods and over a grassy plain. Now I am in a desert. It's huge, and I can't find anything to eat or drink. I need to keep going, or he will kill me... Suddenly, I saw something. Far off in the horizon. What is that? Is it... yes! It's a city! I started running harder, though my aching thighs screamed in protest. "Thank God!" I gasped out as the city started to appear. It looked like a circle of houses and shops, without a wall or anything separating them from the desert sand. In the middle the was a huge building, with three huge skulls in the front. "What is this place?" I wondered aloud as I stared at the tiny spikes protruding from the middle skull's eyes and nose. But then it was out of sight, as I closed in on the outskirts of the city. I stumbled onto the pavement, and collapsed onto my knees. I felt like I would never stand up again.  
"Hey, are you okay?" a friendly voice asked. I looked up into bright green eyes, belonging to a short girl with light brown pigtails. She was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. I was surprised she would look at me and not think I was a beggar. My hair was a mess, my clothes were tired, and I hadn't eaten in days.

"Um... yeah, just tired. Can you tell me where I am?" I gasped between breathes.

"Sheesh, you look like you ran for miles!" She exclaimed. "Soul, come over here. Some girl just ran into the city!" She turned back to me to kindly say "Your in Death City."

Before I could fully process the words, a boy came up behind the girl. He had white hair with one big spike in it, pulled back with a white headband with the word soul and the letters E.A.T. He was wearing a black and yellow sweatshirt with red pants. "What is it Maka? Who's the chick?" he asked. His voice was low, and very smooth. He gave off the atmosphere of someone trying to be cool.

"I don't know yet. What's your name?" the girl called Maka asked. I was finally getting my breath back, so I was able to say "Ash." without gasping. I tried to stand up to really greet them, but my legs gave out from under me.

The boy, Soul, caught me. "Steady, girl. You look like you ran really far. Try to take it slow." "Thanks." I blushed, and with his help I was able to stand.  
"So, did you come to sign up at DWMA?" Maka asked.

"Uh, no. I've never heard of DWMA." I muttered, trying to focus on her without falling over.

"Oh, so your not a student" she said, disappointed. "But anyway, we should bring you to Lord Death. He will know what to do." She started walking down the road, and me and Soul followed.

"L-Lord Death? He's here?" I exclaimed, thinking back to when I had met him before. I was very young, and my dad had told me and Kou to "hide our souls." He had also hidden his Soul. He told us to never let anyone see our soul. I started at this, and quickly checked my own soul. "Phew!" I thought, as I saw that the hasty soul protect I had made in the woods to make it harder for Kou to track me was still in place.  
"Yea, Lord Death is the principle of DWMA." Soul said cooly, watching my face. He had seen my expression when I realized they might have been able to see my soul. Maka added helpfully, "DWMA stands for Death Weapon Meister Academy. It's where new meister and weapon partners are trained to destroy Kishin eggs." Noting my confusion, she added, "A Kishin egg is a human soul that ate human souls seeking power. The soul becomes evil, and the human becomes a monster. This Kishin craves human souls to gain even more power." I nodded to show I understood.

"But what's a meister? And when you say weapon, what do you mean?" Maka opened her mouth to speak, but Soul interrupted her. "It's easier to just show you. I'm a weapon, and Maka's a meister." He stopped walking, and jumped high into the air. As he reached the top of the arc, light burst from him, and he seemed to shrink into a dot in the sky. The light blinded me, and when I could see again, in his place was a scythe. It had a huge black and red blade attached to a long grey pole. Maka caught it with ease, and stepped back into a fighting position. I was spellbound.  
Then the weapon started to laugh! Soul's face appeared on the blade of the scythe, laughing. "You should have seen your face!" He chocked through his laughter. "Soul!" Maka exclaimed angrily. "She's new! And she has probably never seen anything like this before." Soul changed back into a human, still chuckling. I blinked, shocked and more then a bit confused. Maka started walking again, dragging Soul behind her. "Let's just take her to Shinnigami-sama."  
We walked for a long time, through narrow streets and alleyways. Suddenly, we came to a huge set of stairs. I looked up, craning my neck high into the sky. The stairs went on for at least a mile, and at the top was that huge building I had seen from far away. Those tiny skull were now huge! Up close, I could see that the building looked like a castle, with towers and huge arching doors.

"It's beautiful. I can't believe a building that big could be symmetrical." Soul almost chocked, and both him and Maka gave me the strangest look. "What?" I asked, confused. "N-Nothing!" Maka said shakily, before returning to her normal cheerful self. "Come on, up we go!" I sighed, dreading the climb.  
I managed to get halfway up the steps before I tripped. Without a pause, Soul picked me up and set me on my feet. From then on, I leaned on him. Theses steps were even bigger then they looked! When we finally got to the top, my lungs were screaming in harmony with my legs, and my heart was tap dancing in my chest. Maka turned around and smiled at me. "It's amazing you were able to get up here in your condition. But trust me, it's worth it. Turn around." she prompted me. I slowly turned around, and gasped at the sight. I could see the whole city! All the houses were as tiny as my fingernail. And I could see the rolling dunes of the desert, far off in the distance. I could see for miles and miles! This time Maka laughed. It was cute and high, like a sweet bell on a Christmas tree. "Told you!" she giggled.  
Soul watched us with a bored expression, then butted in with a "come on!" and started walking toward the middle skull. Maka sighed, muttered something about "no appreciation for beauty" then followed him. I ran to catch up with them.  
Maka said, "Welcome to DWMA." as we passed through the opening under the skull, I looked around, trying to drink it all in. There were hallways, with tall ceilings and tons of doors and windows. People streamed about, talking and laughing. Soul shouted "coming through!" and pushed through them all. They all immediately cleared a path. It seemed like they respected him and Maka. Many students looked at me curiously.  
We walked down many halls, long after a bell rang and the people had all disappeared into the classrooms. I started to look around apprehensively, nervously playing with one of the bigger holes in my shirt. "Here we are!" Maka exclaimed as she stopped in front of a small door. It had no markings on it, and it looked the same as all the others. Soul pushed open the door, and I found myself staring into a huge room.  
It was a blue dome, with clouds floating across it. The doorway led down the path surrounded by huge execution blades. Father off, black crosses marked hundreds of graves. The path became a few stairs, which lead up to a raised round platform.  
On the platform stood three figures. The largest one stood with his back to a large mirror. I recognized him immediately. It was Lord Death. But he looked different. He used to wear a huge ragged black cloak and a very scary skull mask. Now his cloak was neat, and his mask, while still a skull, was cheerful and cute. Between us stood two figures facing Lord Death. The closest one to me was a tall, skinny girl with long black hair in a ponytail. She was wearing a green sweatshirt and blue pants. Even from behind, I could tell she had huge boobs. The middle figure was very short, (though still a few inches taller then me.) He had striking spiky blue hair, and wore an orange shirt with grey pants. Even from here, I could here his voice. It was high, almost like a girls, and very loud.

"So, what's the biggest mission you have? We want to collect as many souls as we can in one go! We only need a few more kishin souls and a witch soul!" I cringed, shocked. "They collect witch souls here too? Will they kill me?" I thought. I started to back out of the room.  
"Oh, howdy, howdy howdy!" a cheerful voice exclaimed. Lord Death bounced down the steps, (he only has one leg, if you can call it a leg.) "Who is this Maka?" he asked. "Hello Shinnigami-sama. This is Ash. We saw her run into the city." Maka said cheerfully. Soul added, "We didn't know what to do with her, so we brought her to you." "Ah, I see." Lord Death said. "Come here Ash. Don't be afraid, I wont hurt you." I hesitantly walked up the path and onto the platform, coming up next to the boy with the blue hair.

"Hi..." I said nervously. Lord Death looked at me kindly, and said kindly, "Where do you come from? Are you a weapon or a meister?" I shook my head, and said, "It doesn't matter where I come from. I can never go back. And I'm not a weapon or a meister." "Okay then. And of course your something!" Lord Death exclaimed. I can feel the potential in you, So you must be a meister, since you would know if you were a weapon." I blinked at him, dazed. "I-I don't think so..." I said slowly. "Of course you are! And that means you can become a student here." he declared. "Would you like to become a student here?" "I guess..." I said, still very confused. It was all going to fast!  
"Good!" he said happily. "Now, I would like to introduce you to your fellow students. This is BlackStar," he said, pointing to the short boy next to me, "and this is Tsubaki." he said, motioning to the girl.

Throughout the conversation, BlackStar had been staring at me. Now he exclaimed, "Hi! So your going to be a student. I hope you can be in some of my classes." He was very enthusiastic and energetic. "Hi. Nice to meet you." said Tsubaki. She had a low, gentle voice. It was obvious at once that she was quiet, and that BlackStar was quite the opposite. "Hi. Nice to meet you too." I said. It all felt like it was going to fast.

Suddenly, the walls started spinning. I started to speak, but I felt a dark wave wash over me. The last thing I heard was exclamations of "Is she ok?" and "What's wrong with her?" as I fell.

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_Well, that's the first chapter! This is may first FanFic, so don't judge more too harshly. Please comment!_


	2. Chapter 2- A Hideaway

I woke up to a girl's face nose to nose with mine. She had blue eyes and short blond hair. She looked young, about 12. "Liz!" she shouted! I covered my ears, blocking out the sudden after so long in silence. "She's awake!" Then the girl turned back to me. "Your Ash, right? Its so cool that your staying in one of the guest bedrooms. We never get guests. Are you hungry? Thirsty? Do you like giraffes?"

I stared at her, trying to take in her words. She spoke so fast! "Patty, don't talk so loud. You are scaring her." a new voice said, reprimanding the girl leaning over my bed. I looked up to see a older girl walk in. She looked about 17. She wore a red shirt with a white tie and jeans. I realized the younger girl was wearing a matching outfit, except with jean shorts instead of long pants. I noticed they both had big boobs, but the younger girl's were larger then her sisters'.  
"How are you feeling?" she asked, gently. "I'm fine." I responded, looking around. "Where am I?" The younger girl, Patty, responded, "Your in our house!" "Lord Death lives here. We live here too." The older girl added. I blinked. "Why am I at Lord Death's house?" Looking down, I saw yellow pj's with giraffes on them. I added "And why am I in these pajamas?" Again Liz answered. "You passed out in the office, so Lord Death brought you here. He told us who you were, and that you had passed out. He told us to put you in a bed and be nice to you. And as for the pajamas-" Patty interrupted her. "Those are mine! You were wearing really old clothes, and we needed to put you to bed, so we used mine! You didn't fit in Sis's clothes. Even mine are a little big." I looked down again, then blushed. "Y-You changed me?" I said, my face burning. "Yea. Why?" Patty said innocently, not understanding my embarrassment. The Liz sighed, shaking her head. "Ignore her. And Im sorry, but your clothes were really dirty..." I bit my lip, then said, "Its ok. I was just a little shocked, thats all." Patty looked back and forth between me and Liz, the exclaimed, "We should get you some clothes. Unless you want to walk around in my pjs. Which you can... but I will need them back tonight." I laughed. Liz said gently, "No sis, we are not going to make her walk around in your pajamas. For now she can wear some of your clothes."

Suddenly, she perked up. "Sis? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Patty shook her head. "Shopping spree!" Liz squealed. "Come on, hurry and put these on." she said, handing me a black pair of pants, a yellow shirt, and a baggy sweatshirt, all of which were to big. I blinked at the sudden change in the older girl, then jumped out of bed. I quickly changed behind a curtain, then followed the girls down the hall way. I looked around, shocked. The house was huge! And everything was symmetrical. It was amazing.

"So. Are you girls meisters or weapons?" I asked. "We are twin guns!" Patty said, looking back over her shoulder at me. "Cool..." I said. "Hurry up!" Liz shouted. We obeyed.

Ten minutes later, we arrived at the mall. "Let's go!" the sisters shouted together, and they raced through the mall. I tried to keep up, even though my sore muscles groaned in protest. Liz ran strait for a preppy store. "Liz..." I said as I watched her racing through the racks, "I'm not a prep. I'm a goth." "Not another one!" She exclaimed. "Do you want your clothes to be symmetrical too?" I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "Well, that would be nice..." She sighs, and mumbles, "Another one?" before she drags me into another store. It is filled with black and white symmetrical clothing. "Cool!" I exclaim before I wriggle through her fingers and start searching the store. Liz sighs, before following me in and helping me pick out clothes. After 20 minutes, I settle on a black shirt with the DWMA skull on it, a pair of black shorts, white and black striped high socks, and black sneakers with the same skull on the side. I also got a black sweatshirt and some black pjs with white accents. Patty came in to look. She had been hanging out in the toy store the whole time. "You look better now." Patty said to me seriously. I laughed, and she joined me. Liz smiled, then said, "We really need to fix your hair." I touched my knotty hair gingerly. "Yea..."

So Liz brought me over to a hair salon, and ordered me an appointment. When I finally came back out, my hair was neatly pulled back into two pigtails. "That's much better." Liz said. "Your so cute!" Patty exclaimed. I laughed. I was beginning to get really fond of the girls. I hadn't even thought about Kou since I woke up- oh. Kou. He is still out there looking for me. But when I'm here in this city, I feel so... safe. And with Lord Death here, he couldn't attack me without him seeing his soul. So maybe I can stay here, for now. Until I can find a better place to hide...

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_Please comment if you have any constructive things for me, I really am new at this... thanks everyone!_


	3. Chapter 3- Golden Eyes

While I was thinking, we had been walking home. Soon we were at the door, and i really got to see how big the mansion was. It was almost as big as the school! We went in, and went to the kitchen to get lunch. As we passed through the living room, I saw a figure standing in the hallway off to the left. It appeared to be fixing one of the symmetrical statues.

"Kid!" Patty yelled, and ran over to the person. She hugged him, until I thought the figure would be strangled. "Hey Kid." Liz said, walking up to Patty and the person. "Get off me Patty! Hi Liz." said the most amazing male voice I had ever heard. It was low and fluid, like water. When Patty got off the guy, I saw a boy around my age. He was very short, only an inch taller then I am. He was wearing a symmetrical black suit with small white accents. When I looked up, I saw he had three white stripes on one side of his head. But what caught me where his eyes. They were two layers of gold. "Oh, hello." he said, surprised. "Who are you?" Patty butted in before i could open my mouth. "Oh! This is my friend Ash. She is staying here for now." "Oh, ok. Nice to meet you. I'm Death The Kid, or Kid for short. I am Lord Death's son, and the girls' meister." he said, extending his hand. I shook it, numb. I couldn't take my eyes off him. What was wrong with me?  
"So, where have you been?" asked Patty. "Skateboarding" he said lightly. "What have you girls been up too?" "Well," Liz said, and began to explain how i got here and everything we did. I just listened. I kept fazing out, looking into those amazing eyes. Kid just looked at me, commenting on the story now and then. "So," he said, "your going to need a weapon. Let's go to DWMA, and we'll ask around. We will find someone that matches you perfectly." "O-Ok..." I said, still only half focused.

Liz said, "Can you take her Kid? I'm gonna take a nap, and Patty..." I realized I didn't see her, and looked around. Patty had fallen asleep around Kid's leg. "Of course. Go rest." he said sweetly, as he painstakingly pulled Patty off his leg, being carful not to wake her, and put her on the couch. He smiled and patted her head. Then he looked up at me, and smiled. Then he motioned for me to follow, and we started out for DWMA.

It didn't take very long, and we were there before I knew it. We went through the halls, and back into the room where I had met Lord Death. "Howdy howdy howdy!" Lord Death greeted us. "I see that your back Kid. Oh, I always forget how cute those stripes in your hair are!" The change in Kid was immediate. He looked like he was in pain. He said in a strained voice, "Dad, please." "Sorry, sorry." he said hurriedly, and as he turned away, he saw the confusion on my face. "Kid is a little... Well, he likes symmetry. A lot." "Oh." I said, still confused. Kid sighed, and said, "I'm OCD. About symmetry." "That explains the house." I said. "But why is your hair only white on one side? Isn't that asymmetrical?"

This time the change was faster, and much much worse. Kid collapsed onto the floor, saying thing like "I'm useless garbage" and "damn it." He looked like a really young child throwing a temper tantrum. I stood there, shocked. Then I realized Lord Death was looking at me. But he wasn't mad, no. He actually looked... embarrassed. And helpless. I bit my lip, then knelt down beside Kid."Um, K-Kid. Your n- not useless, or else you wouldn't be here. Your a shinnigami! You should be proud of yourself! And obviously no one around here thinks your useless. I'm sorry about what I said about your stripes. They're not bad, I was just curious... Kid, stop saying you should die! No one wants you to die! Everyone likes you here! Kid, look at me!" Ok, I hate speeches, and I really didn't know Kid. So I just made up stuff. And to my surprise, it worked. He looked at me, and suddenly he wasn't cursing. I realized he hadn't been crying, like I had thought. I didn't know how he could do that without crying, but he did. He looked at me, into my eyes. Then he looked away, embarrassed. He got up, smoothed his clothes, said a quiet "Excuse me, I have work to do." and left the room.  
"Well, that was new." Lord Death said, turning away from the door and looking at me, head cocked to the right. "He usually doesn't do... that?" I asked, hesitantly. "No," Lord Death said, "He does freak out quite often. But he has never forgotten what was wrong. Usually someone has to fix it. And he has never been embarrassed before. It's odd."

"Oh." I said, unsure of what else to say. Lord Death kept looking at me, then he shook his head and asked, "Anyway, why did you come? Are you feeling better?" "I'm a little sore, but much better, thank you. And I was here to see if there were any available weapons." Lord Death sighed. "Actually, there aren't any. We have too many meisters right now." "Oh.'' I said, disappointed. "Don't worry, you will find your match!" Lord Death said cheerfully. "Anything else?"

"No, thank you." I said, and walked out of his office. I walked down the hallways, making a few wrong turns here and there. Finally, I was back out in the sun. I stared up at it, feeling its radiant heat on my face, and I felt happy again. It would be alright.

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_FINALLY INTRODUCED KID! :3 I love him. *fangirl* anyway, please R & R!_


	4. Chapter 4- Daggers Black

Suddenly I was flying through the air, with someone on my chest. I looked down to see BlackStar, who must have ran strait into me. I hit the ground hard, and my legs screamed in protest at the impact. BlackStar rolled off of me, then actually looked at me. "Oh, it's you. I didn't see you." he said as Tsubaki ran up behind him. "Are you all right? I told you to watch where you were going!" she said in a voice that was more worry then anger. BlackStar said, "I'm fine." as he picked himself off the ground. "I wasn't talking to you!" Tsubaki snapped at BlackStar, who was helping me to my feet. My knees kept giving out on me. "See what you did!" she said, pointing at me.  
I looked up into BlackStars face, and I cracked up. He looked like a child who had fallen for the first time. He was completely shocked. I collapsed again, laughing. I couldn't help it. Tsubaki and BlackStar turned to me, shocked. I explained why I was laughing between giggles. Then Tsubaki started laughing, though BlackStar looked confused and hurt. Slowly I stopped laughing. I got up painstakingly, and hugged BlackStar. This obviously made him even more confused. "BlackStar, I haven't laughed like that since my dad died. Thank you." I said quietly into his ear. He relaxed and smiled. "Of course! Whoever you need someone for a laugh, come to me." he said proudly. I giggled. Tsubaki smiled, but there was hurt in her eyes. I let go of BlackStar, and walked back to Tsubaki while BlackStar strutted around like a proud chicken. "Hey, you ok?" I asked her. "Yea, I'm fine.'' she said, but she looking away as she said it. I knew she was living, but I had just met her, and I didn't want press her. So I let it go.

"So, where where you guys going?" I asked. "Oh!" exclaimed BlackStar. "I was supposed to bring this to you." BlackStar held out a little note, neatly folded into a symmetrical star. "Kid told me to give it to you." I looked down at it, confused. "O-Ok..." I said as I gingerly unfolded the note. It was written in neat, small handwriting. "Ash: I am very sorry for the way I acted today. I hope you will forgive me." I read it twice, confused.  
I didn't realize BlackStar had been reading over my shoulder until he said, "What did he do now?" "Uhh... He freaked at. He's OCD, so... " I said hesitantly. "That's it?" he exclaimed, confused. "He does that all the time. And he never says sorry, or even talk about it at all. Weird." That was the second person who had said something like that. It was weird. "Anyway, I got to go. Bye!" BlackStar shouted as he started racing down the stairs, three at a time. Tsubaki waved goodbye, then raced after her partner. I was left alone again in front of DWMA.

I looked over the town, and the sign of a store caught my eye. "Death City Cafe" Well, I thought, that might be interesting, so I started down the steps. I took a left, and was winding down the narrow streets when I realized that Liz and Patty might be wondering where I was. I turned in the direction where I thought the house was, and started off again. Soon, I was completely lost. I have a horrible sense of direction, and there where so many side alleys that I had no idea where I was. I was walking down a particularly dark alley when I heard a shout. It was coming from the other side of the alley. I sped up, curious. I burst into the sun, blinking as I tried to take in what I saw.

I saw a boy, around 17, holding a black dagger. He was trying to block attack that where coming from six swords. But these swords all belonged to the same person. Actually, it was more of a creature. It looked like an overgrown tick, with a mask covering its face. It was fighting ferociously, trying to overwhelm the boy. Suddenly, one of the swords flung the dagger from the boys hand. "Alex!" He shouted as the dagger came flying toward me. I should have ducked. Any person in their right mind would have. But I was fascinated by the dagger. I watched it arc through the air, and... I caught it. Like it was nothing. The boy looked at me, shocked. "Watch out!" I shouted as one of the swords came flying at his head. He ducked just in time. At this point, I have no idea what I was thinking. I don't know what possessed me to take the dagger, and while the monster was distracted with the other guy, jump onto its thick body and shove the dagger into his head. At the time it just felt natural, like I had done this a million times. I jumped off the creature as it started to convulse and spray blood in all directions. I watched it swell, then collapse in on itself. All that was left was a glowing red soul, pulsing with a sickly red light.  
I didn't notice the boy until he was right next to me. "Who are you? What are you doing? Give me back Alex!" He shouted, grabbing the dagger from me. I stumbled back, started. I wasn't expecting such a hostile greeting after I had just saved him. "Uhhhhh... I heard you shout..." I said lamely, cringing back from him. But he wasn't watching me anymore. He was looking at the dagger. But it wasn't a dagger anymore. It- he was a young boy, about 13. I don't know why this didn't shock me. I guess I was getting used to the idea. The older boy started frantically asking questions, asking "Are you all right?" and "Did it hurt when she touched you?" To both he just shook his head. Then he walked past his flustered brother and said, "Thank you." in a sweet and quiet voice. But it wasn't out loud. I could hear it in my head. His brother exclaimed, "How many times have I told you, people can't hear you." at the same time I said, "Your welcome Alex." Alex turned to the older boy smugly, as he stared at me in shock. I stepped forward. For some reason, I was confident. "My name is Ash. I'm a meister. You are?" He replied, stuttering, "M-My names Kyle. This is my little brother Alex. We are twin daggers." This time I was shocked. "Your a dagger too?" I had thought twin weapons like Liz and Patty were rare. "Yes." Alex said into my head. "We act as each other's meisters. We were trying to find a meister that fit us at DWMA, but no one could hold us without bursting into flames. So we decided we didn't need a meister, and went out to do a mission on our own. It wasn't allowed, but we thought we knew best. And as you can see, if you hadn't appeared, we would have died." "We wouldn't have died." Kyle pouted. I looked at them, thinking. Mabye the reason I didn't burst into flames was because I was a flame witch, so I was immune. "Can I try to hold both of you?" I asked, hesitantly. Kyle looked at his brother, obviously about to say no, but Alex was already transforming. Kyle sighed, and also transformed. I caught them both, again with ease. They fit into my hands as if they were made for me. Kyle gasped, and I saw his face in the flat side of the dagger as he said, "This is amazing. I feel like we fit." I laughed, because he had voiced my thoughts. "That's exactly what I feel." I said truthfully. Alex giggled. "Why do you only talk in my head?" I asked him. "I'm mute." He replied cheerfully. I nodded my understanding.

Suddenly, a figure skidded around the corner and looked around wildly. It was Kid, holding two symmetrical guns. I realized they must Liz and Patty. I saw Kid look at the red soul, at me, and at the two beautiful black daggers in my hands. He blinked, trying not to appear shocked. Then he was composed agin, and said calmly, "Hi Ash. What are you doing here? And who are they?" he said, gesturing to to my hands. He tossed Liz and Patty into the air, and they landed as themselves. "Hi Ash!" Patty said cheerfully. I imitated Kid, tossing the daggers into the air, and they landed as humans. I realized that both were taller then me, especially Kyle. They both looked warily at Kid and his partners. "Hey. This is Kyle, and this is Alex. This is Kid" I said pointing to him, "and that's Liz and Patty." pointing to them each in turn. Then I explained what had happened. Again I watched Kid try to keep his composure during the story. Patty jumped up and down at the exciting parts, and imitated the actions in the story. Liz just stood there, looking at Kyle. Both brothers just watched me, with Kyle adding their part in the story when I was done. Alex walked over to the soul, and ate it. I watched, fascinated, as he swallowed, then sighed happily. Kyle didn't even blink. Then Patty explained they had felt a Kishin in the city, and had run to kill it.  
When she were done, Kid just looked at us. "Well, I guess I'd better take you to my dad." I saw understanding in the boys eyes. I think they realized who Kid was.

The guys walked sullenly behind the trio ahead. I ran up to catch up with Kid. He wouldn't look at me. "Kid..." I said hesitantly. He finally looked at me, and I saw that he was blushing slightly. For a second I couldn't speak. He looked so cute! "T-There was nothing to forgive." I finally stuttered, then ran back to the brothers. I think I was blushing too. Liz had started to talk to Kyle. They both seemed shy and awkward. Patty was prattling off to Alex, oblivious to his silence. I could see his eyes laughing. I walked over to join them. Patty was in the middle of a story. "And then Kid started talking about how we weren't symmetrical in our human forms. Then he grabbed our boobs and said, "Even your boobs aren't symmetrical!" Then Liz tried to punch him, but he ducked. She started ranting about how his stripes weren't symmetrical, and he got really mad. Then he collapsed, and started talking about how he wanted to die. We had to cheer him up. By this time Master Thief Lupin was long gone, and we had to go find him again the next day!" Patty started laughing, and I heard Alex laughing in my head. I realized I was laughing too. I looked up, and saw Kid's ears burning. This made me laugh even harder. Then we were at the steps, and everything went silent. I saw the fear on the brothers' faces. We all followed Kid up the steps, through the halls, and into Lord Death's office. "Howdy howdy howdy!" He said in his typical greeting. "What do we have here?" Kid told the whole story. I couldn't believe his memory. He got it all right, every last detail. I noticed Kyle had Alex under his shoulder protectively. I went and stood beside them, trying to act more confident then I felt.

When Kid was done, Lord Death was looking at us thoughtfully. "Well," he said, "I'm very disappointed in you brothers for trying to take on a Kishin by yourself. You could have been killed." Both brothers looked down, like two puppies who got in trouble. "But," he said more cheerfully, "Ash, I am amazed at how well you handled the situation. And it seems that you found your weapons." I looked down, blushing. I could feel everyone's eyes on me, especially Kid's. "So," Lord Death continued, "I have decided to give you guys the test." Every person in the room except me snapped up to look at Lord Death. They all looked shocked. I had no idea what that meant, so I just watched and waited for someone to explain. But no one did. Instead, Lord Death just said, "Follow me!" and walked out of the room.

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_My weapons have been introduced :) I love daggers. They are so pretty :) Comment please!_


	5. Chapter 5- I Hate Tests

We all followed him down the hallways, into what looked like a field. But it was inside the school! It had a track, some exercise equipment, and a baseball field in the center. I gasped, and everyone smiled at me. I ducked my head again, blushing.  
Lord Death walked into the middle of the field, and said, "Ok, this is how this test will go. You" he said, pointing to me and my new partners, "will fight against Kid and his weapons. Simple, right!" Before Lord Death could really finish what he was saying, Kid interrupted him. "Father, don't you think that's too harsh? They just started, and I am above most people at this school." Lord Death looked at him, then said. "They don't have to win. They just have to survive." Kid looked down, and Lord Death added hastily, "you can't go easy on them Kid." Kid sighed, and looked up at me in apology. I nodded to him, indicating I understood he didn't want to do this. "Go!" Lord Death said suddenly. I jumped, but caught my weapons. Kid did the same. I looked warily at him. I knew this was going to be really hard. Kid looked miserable. I went on my instincts. I got onto my toes, and starting slowly walking toward him, watching him. He looked at me one last time, then looked away and fired. I flipped over them, and was on behind him before I realized what I was doing. Kid spun around and slid backwards as I tried to hit him with the daggers. He fired again, and I realized I couldn't beat him if he was able to skip away from me. I started to look around for corners, but I saw none. Then I saw Kid blink, and he looked around. Lord Death was too. I looked around, but didn't see anything. Then I realized my breathing had changed. It wasn't quick and nervous. It was slow, deep, and silent. I slowly circled Kid. He didn't see me. So I crept in as close as I dared, then jabbed up at his chest. He saw me at the last second, and flung himself into the air, away from me. I sighed in relief. I really didn't want to hurt him. He started shooting again, and I dodged between the bullets. Lord Death said, "Kid, do as I told you." He sighed, then got down on his knees. I saw his soul expand, and it started to swim with dark shadows. "This is bad..." I said as I watched Liz and Patty grow in size. I tried to slow my breathing, but I was too scared. I heard Kid say, "Death Cannon." and watched two huge purple lights shoot towards me. I knew the was no way I could dodge them. Time seemed to slow, and I saw the fear on Alex's face, and how hard Kyle was trying to act brave. So I threw them as far away as I could right before the bullets hit. Then I was surrounded by purple and black shadows, and I felt like someone was ripping my soul apart. I think I screamed. I just knew all of my focus was on keeping my soul protect stable. If it went out, I didn't know what would happen. I felt smoke around me, and then it was gone. I was in a crater in the middle of the field. I got up shakily and looked for Alex and Kyle. They were fighting Kid, with Kyle in human form. Kid was obviously distracted. He almost got hit multiple times because he kept looking over at the crater.

Suddenly, a huge hand was on my shoulder. "It's over." Lord Death called to the the others, and they stopped fighting. Alex and Kyle ran back over to me, with Kid walking behind them. He looked really guilty. Lord Death looked at him, sighed, then turned to me and my partners. "Congratulations! You did amazing for just starting. You will be put in the A class right away." Kyle and Alex looked shocked.

"B-But we didn't even touch him!" Kyle protested. Lord Death smiled. "Kid is an expert. It's very hard for people to not get beat right off the bat, let alone touch him." Kid almost ran over to me. "Are you ok?" he asked, obviously feeling guilty. Liz and Patty were back in human form. They were both congratulating us. But I wasn't really paying attention. I felt like I was going to fall over.

Suddenly Kyle picked me up. "W-What are you doing?" I exclaimed. He laughed. "You don't look like you can stand, let alone walk." I protested, but he ignored me. Liz and Patty led him and Alex back to the house. Kid had stayed behind, avoiding everyone. I think we got about halfway to the house when I fell asleep.

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_Not too bloody. I want this to stay T rated. Comment please!_


	6. Chapter 6- Not A Morning Person

I woke up in the same bed. This time I was alone. It looked like it was morning, so I guess I must have slept through the afternoon and the night. I looked at the clock on the bedside table, and I saw that it was 4:42 am. I looked down, and realized I was wearing my new pjs. Some one had changed me again.

I decided to explore the house. I got up, and walked down the hallway. There was snoring coming room next to mine. I peeked in, and I saw Kyle and Alex sleeping in bunk beds, with Alex on top. I smiled. I kept going down the hallway, but all the rooms were empty guest rooms. So I walked back up the hallway, and heard snoring again. I opened the door across from my room, and saw Patty sprawled across her bed. There was an empty tea mug on her bedside table. Her room was giraffe themed. I gently closed the door, and peeked in the next room. As I had guessed, Liz was asleep under the covers. Her room looked like the typical teenager room, with posters and pictures covering most of the walls. I walked down the hallway, and found one more door at the very end of the hall. I peeked in very cautiously. The whole room was black and white, and completely symmetrical. In a double bed in the middle of the room was Kid. He was thrashing around silently, his face screwed up in pain. I froze. Then I walked into the room, and closed the door behind me. I walked over to the bed. He was mumbling. "No... Don't touch that... So asymmetrical..."

I gently touched his shoulder, and whispered, "Kid." He shot bolt upright, panting and staring at me. "W-where?" he asked. He looked so scared. "It's ok. You were having a nightmare. Go back to sleep." I said gently. He lay back down, never taking his eyes off me. "But why...?" He said, confused. "Just sleep." I said. He looked at me, then closed his eyes. Soon his breathing became regular, and I knew he was asleep. I sat there for a few minutes, watching him. He was so cute. I hadn't realized how tense he was until I saw him asleep. He looked a lot younger. I realized he probably close to my age. I had thought he was at least 17. Now his height made more sense. I slipped out of the room, being careful not to wake him.

I walked back down the hall, replaying what had just happened in my head. I went back into my room and got changed. Then I went downstairs for breakfast. I was starving! I found a bagel, and heated it up. It dinged, and I grabbed it and walked outside. I went over to DWMA. It was empty, since it was still very early in the morning. I went strait to the indoor field where we had been before. It was as empty as the rest of the the school. I went over to the exercise equipment, and started working out. I needed to be fit if I had to run from Kou again. I ran around the track a few times, then left. I wanted to be back before anyone woke up.

I arrived back at the house at 7:45. I went upstairs and took a shower. When I was clean and changed, I went back downstairs. I went to the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone. I had just started searching the cupboard when Kid stumbled down the stairs. He was wearing plain black pajamas. He looked awake, but not good. "Oh." was all he said when he saw me. He went to the table and dragged one of the chairs over to the kitchen. He got on it, opened the cupboard, and got out some headache medication. He took way too many pills out and dumped them on the table with the bottle. Then he dragged the chair back over. I got out a glass and filled it with water. I gave it to him with two of the headache pills. He smiled gratefully at me, and swallowed the pills. Then he sighed. I turned back to the cupboard, and took out some waffle mix, eggs, and bacon. I would need to make a lot for six people. I started reading the recipe on the box, glancing back to check on Kid. He was looking better, if still not completely good. I finished the waffle mix, and put it on the waffle iron I had found in the bottom cupboard. I took out two frying pans and started the eggs and bacon. I went between making waffles and flipping eggs and bacon. I finished everything and put them on plates. I put them on the table. Kid was looking much better... Except he had fallen asleep. I laughed and left him alone. I set the table, and put out glasses and jugs of orange juice, milk, and water.

No sooner then I had finished then I neared someone running down the stairs. Patty burst into the room, followed by Alex, Liz, and Kyle. "I smell food!" Patty shouted. Kid bolted upright, blinked at me, then proceeded to pretend he had never been asleep. I stifled a laugh. Everyone sat down at the table, and started eating happily. I came and sat between Alex and Kid. Kid was obviously still not feeling great, but he tried to eat. Patty ate more then I thought possible, and she ended up taking Kid's plate. Patty and Liz were talking about homework that they hadn't done, and Alex and Kyle talked about where they would sleep tonight. Liz kept looking at them, so I guess she couldn't hear Alex. Kid looked like he just wanted to curl up and go back to bed. I got up and cleared the table. The weapons went upstairs to get changed as I did the dishes.

When I was done, I turned around to see Kid had fallen asleep again. I sighed, because I knew I had to wake him up. He had a mission today. "Kid, wake up. You have to get dressed." He opened his eyes and sighed. He slowly walked up the stairs, passing Alex who was coming back down, fully dressed. As soon as Kid was out of sight, Alex started walking around like Frankenstein. "Alex!" I said, laughing.

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_Heres where the dreams start to come in... part of my title. I love Alex, he's cute :3 comments are wanted!_


	7. Chapter 7- A Typical Day

Soon everyone came back downstairs. Kid was awake, and back to his usual self. He kept going to different objects in the room and fixing them. We walked out the door and into the blinding sun. Kid pointed his hand at the ground, and a black shadow rippled out of it. It became a green skateboard with red wheels and two skulls on the bottom. Liz and Patty transformed to guns, and he caught them. Then the skateboard started flying, and Kid zoomed away. Throughout this my mouth had been hanging open. I had heard my partners gasp behind me. I quickly shut my mouth and turned around.

"So... what should we do?" I asked them. Kyle shrugged. Alex spoke into my head, "Lets go to the park!" I laughed, the said, "Why not?" So we walked towards the park that's in the center of the city. As soon as it was within sight, Alex ran for the jungle gym. Kyle ran up behind him, dragging him off and tickling him. Alex shrieked with laughter in my head. I laughed, and joined Kyle.

Soon we had created a game. Me and Kyle were "sharks." Alex was a "bird". Me and Kyle had to jump up and grab Alex out of the bars. If we got him, we dragged him to the ground and "bit" him, that is, tickled him. I wasn't very good at getting him down, since I couldn't touch the bars, I was too short. But once he was down, I could find every place he was ticklish. I made him scream with laughter, which always made me and Kyle laugh. We played this game for a good three hours.

Then Alex got tired, so we brought him home. Then we sat on the couch and talked. I told them about how I had run into the city, though I didn't tell them why. Kyle explained that he and Alex used to be from a normal family, but when they had found out they were weapons they threw them out. They had heard of a school that might take them in, so they came here. They had signed up last week, and had been to the "not" classes, but hadn't found a partner. Then Alex fell asleep, so Kyle said he would take a nap too and carried Alex. up to bed.

I got up and started exploring the house again. I began to get a basic floor plan of the house in my head. The first floor was the hall, dining room, kitchen, living room, and ball room. The second floor was bedrooms. The basement had a pool, and some rooms full of equipment for fighting. The third floor was locked. I tried to look in one of the windows from outside, but it was too high to see into the rooms. Then I went to check on Alex and Kyle. Alex was still asleep. Kyle was on the computer, (there was one in every guest room). He didn't hear me as I peeked in. I gently shut the door, and walked back down the hall. I walked back downstairs, then went out of the house. I walked to DWMA, and into Lord Death's office. He was standing in front of the mirror. He turned, saw me, and motioned me closer.

I walked up behind him, and saw that the mirror was showing Kid, fighting guy in an orange jump suit, with a harpoon on one arm. They were in a train car. The thing fired the harpoon, almost hitting Kid. I winced. Then Kid had it under him, and he fired directly into it. It fell down, smoking. Then Kid walked over to a yellow key, and turned it.

Then the screen went black as Lord Death said, "Good, he got it. Now what did you come here for?" "Well..." I said, unsure of how to start. "I want to thank you for letting me stay at your house. And I don't have any money to repay you, so I need to know where I can work. Secondly, I need to know where I can find a permanent place to stay." Lord Death laughed. "If you really want work, go down to the Death City Coffee Shop. They are always hiring. But you don't have to pay me. In fact I'd be glad if you stayed." I looked at him, confused. "Everyone has been a lot more cheerful since you came, especially Patty. She loves you like another sister. Plus, you really don't have any other place to go." He smiled at me. "Oh, ok then." I said, smiling. Then I frowned. "But what about my partners?" "They can stay too if they want to! You can do whatever you want to the rooms now. Their yours! Here." he said, handing me a card. "Use that for money." "B-But..." I stuttered, overwhelmed. he smiled and said cheerfully, "No buts. Now, is there anything else?" "No, thank you." I said as I bowed and left the room. I left feeling happy.

"Did I really make them happier?" I thought as I walked to the mall. I bought a plain black bikini, and walked home. As I opened the front door, and was greeted with the sound of laughter from down the hall. I walked into the entryway of the living room, and saw Alex and Patty playing with toys on the floor. I realized they must have finished their mission. Kyle was watching a movie. To my surprise, I saw that he had an arm around Liz. I smiled. As I walked further into the room, Alex looked up and saw me. "Where were you?" He asked cheerfully. I smiled and replied, "Just working some things out." Liz jumped and turned to look at me, then smiled. "Oh, it's just you." She said, relieved. "Just me?" I said jokingly. "Well excuse me!" I said, and walked out of the room biting back laughter. Patty and Alex were laughing enough for all three of us.

I went up to my room and put on my bikini. Then I wrapped myself in a fuzzy towel I found in the closet and walked into the basement. I tested the water with my toe, and was surprised to find it almost as hot as bath water! I slipped into the swimming pool, and relaxed. Ok, I know that since I am a fire witch, I should hate water. As long as it's warm, I'm fine. But if its cold, or if its ice, I hate it and it can make me sick. I was very thankful that the pool was warm. I let myself sink under water, and opened my eyes. I screamed, and came up for air choking. Kid was sitting on the bottom of the pool. He looked like he was... dead. I took a deep breath of air and dove to the bottom. I came up to Kid and touched his shoulder. He immediately opened his eyes, and they widened in shook. He shot to the surface, and I quickly followed him.

By the time I had rubbed my eyes clear of water, Kid was a few feet away, watching me. "I thought you were dead!" I gasped, trying to catch my breath. I still had water in my lungs. "No, I was just sleeping." he said shakily, almost groggy. I blinked, then shook my head. I kept having to remind myself he was a shinnigami.

"So, how was your mission?" I said awkwardly. I blushed, and wished I had bought a one-piece. Kid was wearing black swim trunks and a white swim shirt. "It was fine." he said, unaware of my discomfort. "And... thanks. For last night." "Your welcome." I said quickly, then I dove under the water, hoping it would help to hide my burning face. I swiftly swam to the other side of the pool. When I broke the surface, Kid was gone. I sighed. Why was I always so weird around him. My mood for swimming gone, I got out and wrapped myself in the towel. I went upstairs and got changed without encountering anybody.

When I went back downstairs with my hair halfway dried, Kid had joined everyone in the living room. He was playing with a Rubix cube, turning it this way and that. Kyle and Liz were still watching the movie. It looked like a Hallmark movie, with Patty snoring in time with Alex, her head on his lap. Kid was still working on the Rubix cube, his brow furrowed. I sighed, and woke up Alex and Patty, ushering the sleepy children to their rooms. I left Liz and Kyle, they looked comfortable. Finally I touched Kid's shoulder, and he looked up. "You should go to bed. It's late." I said softly, trying not to wake the older kids. Kid sighed, then looked at the Rubix cube. "I can't leave this asymmetrical!" He said in a pained voice. I sighed, then took it from him. Within seconds I had it solved, and I handed it back to him. He looked at it in surprise, then looked back at me. "Thanks." he said softly, then went upstairs.

I cleaned up the toys on the rug silently, then followed Kid up the stairs. I took a shower and changed into my pajamas. The house was completely silent, and I walked on tip-toes to my room. Once there, I collapsed into bed and fell asleep right away.

I woke up in the middle of the night, with a sinking suspicion of why. I pushed open the door and walked to Kid's room. I opened the door, and my suspicions were confirmed. He was thrashing around, and I could see a silent scream on his lips. I rushed to the bed and shook him. "Kid! Wake up!" I said strait into his ear. Kid jolted awake and sat up. He was breathing hard, and his hair was plastered to his head with sweat. He was as white as paper, and his eyes were wide and glassy. "Wha-" he shouted, then registered who I was. "Oh. Its you." he said in relief, and he fell back in bed. He looked like death, literally. He was still breathing hard, and he couldn't seem to relax. "Sh, it's ok. Everything is going to be all right. I'm here." I don't know why I said it, but it seemed right. He looked up at me, and smiled. It was a warm smile, as if I was actually helping. I felt like my insides melted with it. I brushed the slick hair off his forehead, and smiled at him as comfortingly as I could. "Sleep." I said soothingly, and he obediently closed his eyes. I stayed until I was sure he was asleep, then stumbled back to bed. "This is going to rough on school nights." I thought groggily before I passed out.

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_Lots of stuff can happen on a Saturday! Anyway, sorry if you find this boring. I like the little things in between the fighting. Comments are loved!_


	8. Chapter 8- Sundays are Fun!

Waking up in the morning was rough. I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I stumbled to the bathroom, and felt much better after a long, hot shower. I went downstairs to make breakfast, and found Kyle and Liz still asleep on the couch. "I wish I could sleep in." I grumbled, knowing full well that I could if I really wanted to. But I felt that this was a way of paying the rent. I glanced at the calendar, seeing it was a Sunday. Tomorrow would be my first day of school.

First I made some a huge pot of green tea. That made me feel a lot better. I didn't feel up to anything complicated this morning, so I grabbed lots of eggs and some random ingredients and spices from the fridge. I wiped the half eggs in a large bowl, then added some cheese, chives, hot peepers, and salmon. Then I took another large bowl and made a plain omelet, with just some faint spices.

I turned as I heard feet on the stairs, and turned to see Kid stumbling down the stairs. He looked just as bad as yesterday. I climbed onto the counter, grabbed the pills from the top shelf, and took two out. I handed it to him with a mug of tea. He looked down at my hands in surprise, then took the pills and tea. He looked up at me, then smiled and said, "Thanks Ash." I turned away, feeling self-conscious. I could feel his eye on my back. I poured the inlets into pans, then set the stove to low. I leaned against the fridge, and turned back to Kid. He hadn't fallen asleep yet, but he looked like he was going to. He had trouble keeping his eyes open.

I turned back to the stove, and flipped the omelets. I waited a couple seconds, then flipped the omelets onto my waiting plates. Then I covered them with a paper towel and another plate to keep them warm. I turned around to go wake everyone, and saw Kid, his face buried in his arms. I smiled and patted his head very lightly. Then I went upstairs and woke Alex. He groggily sat up, and I realized he slept without a shirt on. I hit his chest teasingly, then went to wake Patty. I had to shake her, but once she was awake she hopped out of bed and went downstairs. I heard her wake Liz and Kyle. I followed her down more slowly. I'm not really a morning person.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I saw everyone was crowded around Kid. I sighed and squeezed my way between them. He was still asleep. Patty was rummaging through one of the drawers. "There!" she cried triumphantly, holding a black sharpie into the air. "Forget it Patty." I said, then shook Kid's shoulder. Patty exclaimed, "Ash, that's no fun!" as Kid opened his eyes and stretched. He looked around, and sighed. He looked at the sharpie in Patty's hand, and glared at her. She giggled. I sighed, and brought out the omelets. This distracted everyone, and soon they were sitting around the table laughing.

I sat down with them and smiled. It was like we were a huge, awkward family. I was the practical one, Patty was the energetic child, Alex was the clown, Liz was the typical girl teenager, Kyle was the protective older brother, and Kid was... I guess he was the strict one, trying to make everything all right. Right now he didn't look very strict, since he had fallen asleep on the table. I gently pushed his plate away from the danger area of getting in his hair. He sat up sleepily, then leaned against me and fell asleep again. I froze, that laughed at myself. Why should I freak out? I smoothed his hair and relaxed, watching the others talk.

When everyone was finished eating, they got up to leave. I motioned to Liz before she left. She looked at me, saw Kid, and laughed at my predicament. Then she deftly picked up Kid without waking him and carried him upstairs, nodding off my thanks. I cleared the table, loaded the dishwasher, and went upstairs to change.

When I was dressed and ready, I went to Kyle and Alex's room. Alex was jumping on the bed, while Kyle tried to catch him and tickle him. I laughed, and Kyle spun around and lost his balance, almost falling. This made me laugh even harder, with Alex's sweet bubbly laugh joining me in my head. Kyle smiled good-naturedly, then took advantage of Alex's distraction and pulled him off the bed, tossing him into the air and catching him.

I smiled, then remembered why I had come. "I spoke to Lord Death yesterday, and he said we could stay here. And, he said these rooms are now our own, and we can do whatever we want to them!"The boys looked shocked, then Alex started shouting, "Yeay! We get to stay here forever!" and wriggled out of Kyle's hands. Alex hugged me, and I laughed and scooped him up, throwing him onto the bed. He screamed with laughter. Kyle looked at Alex's happy face, and bit his tongue. He obviously wasn't going to say anything to protest when his brother looked so happy.

So we went back to the mall, looking for a paint and furniture store. I let Alex and Kyle go to the themed rooms. I head strait for the back, where the furniture was. I looked around, and to my delight I found lots of black furniture. I went back to Alex and Kyle, and found them sketching roughly what they wanted. I grabbed another sheet of paper and pencil. I quickly drew what I was thinking, then handed it to the guy behind the desk. He took the paper and took me to the back, where he showed me multiple symmetrical ideas. I nodded and chose the one I liked most. I really am a sucker for four-poster beds. They are so cool! I told him what I wanted, and went back to Alex and Kyle. They were done and sitting by the entrance. I showed the cashier the card, and his eyes widened. Then he smiled and waved us out the door, saying that our rooms would be ready in an hour.

I walked out smiling, thinking of how nice it would be to have a room that wasn't passed down or shared with an older brother. That sobered me, but it's hard to be sad with a cheery Alex bouncing around you, balancing on the edge of the sidewalk and jumping over cracks.

"Should we go back to the park?" Kyle asked, looking at me. "Sure!" I said, watching Alex's face light up. We walked back to the park, and we practiced fighting "evil-doers." When Alex got bored, we started playing hide-and-go-seek. Kyle agreed to be it first. I raced across the park, and climbed up the skateboarding rink fence and jumped over. I raced over to a ramp and hid beneath it. I heard Kyle shout out he was coming, and a few beats later Alex's scream as he was found. Then there was silence.

Suddenly there was a rumbling sound right above me. I shrieked and dove out of my hiding place. I saw Kid at the top of the ramp on his skateboard, staring down at me in surprise. "Found you!" Kyle said, opening the fence gate. "That's not fair!" I said, pretending to pout. Kyle laughed, then asked, "Kid, where are Liz and Patty?" "I think they are on the swings. What are you doing?" he asked, shooting down the ramp and jerking to a stop in front of us. "Playing hide-and-go-seek!" Alex said, pushing open the gate and running over. Kid smiled at him, then said, "Well, I know Patty would love to play. And," he said, looking at the beaming Alex, "why not? I'll play too." Alex jumped up and down in delight, and raced off to the swings.

A minute later he was racing back with Patty, who was dragging a reluctant Liz behind her. She perked up when she saw Kyle, who smiled at her. When we were all together, we counted off to eight, to see who would go first. I got it, so I told everyone I would count to 18, and turned around. "One... Two... Three..." I counted slowly, hearing the patter of footsteps racing away. "Seventeen... Eighteen!" I shouted, then turned around. The playground appeared deserted. I slowly walked towards it, and heard faint giggling. I creeped up to a dark cove under the slide, then poked my head in and screamed, "Found ya!" Patty and Alex screamed, then piled out of the hole giggling. I went off in search of the others. I searched the rest of the playground, but it was empty. I walked over to the baseball field. I slowly walked down to the bunkers. I saw Kyle and Liz whispering to each other and leaning together. I whispered, "Got you." and Liz screamed, then looked up and saw it was me. Kyle turned and smiled, then they continued their conversation. I shrugged, then continued my search. There weren't many places left to hide. I searched the skateboarding park, but it was also silent. I stood still, thinking.

Then I heard a muffled laugh. I looked up, then laughed. Kid was sitting on his skateboard twenty feet in the air above me. He had his hand against his mouth, trying not to laugh. I motioned him down, and the skateboard descended to my eye level. Kid hopped off, and put away his skateboard. "Nice trick." I said, smiling. He smiled back. "When you play this game enough, you come up with a lot." He said.

Then he looked at the clock on the fence, and his eyes widened. "Shoot." I heard him say vehemently, before he was back in the skateboard and zooming across the sky. I watched him leave, confused but not really surprised. I gathered up the others, and we walked home.

When we walked into the house, Alex raced up the steps, knocking a picture off the wall. I sighed and set it back on the wall, then walked up the steps, Kyle right behind me. I heard Alex yell excitedly as I opened his door. The room was dark blue, with black waves at the bottom, matching what they looked like in dagger form. They had two separate singe beds, one with a bright blue comforter, and one with a dark blue comforter. There was a desk in one corner with a laptop on it, and a dresser in the other. Kyle smiled, and collapsed onto his bed, the darker one. Alex was racing around and opening and testing everything.I smiled at them, then walked to my own room.

I opened the room and gasped. It was perfect. There was a black four-poster bed with soft curtains enfolding it. There where two small black dressers in the corner, and elegant chest at the bottom of my bed, on which sat a new black laptop. The floor was covered with a fuzzy white carpet, and the walls were the color of the deepest night. I ran to the bed and jumped onto it, and stared at the ceiling. It was also black, but decorated with white stars, and a silvery moon in the middle. The whole room was perfectly symmetrical. I sighed, then curled up on the thick comforter and fell asleep.

When I woke up it was dark out, and the house was quiet. I went downstairs and made two cups of tea. I drank one, then wrapped the other in a towel to keep it warm, and carried it up to my room. I went back into a light sleep, knowing that I would wake up again soon.  
I woke up again a few hours later, and padded down to Kid's room, holing the mug of tea. Kid wasn't thrashing, but he was talking, almost shouting. "No. Please no. Not her! Don't! STOP!" he yelled. I hurried to the bed and lightly shook his shoulder. "Kid, your dreaming. Liz and Patty are fine." I said as soothingly as I could. His eyes snapped open as he pushed himself upright, gasping. "Ash?" he asked, shaking. He looked worse this time, somehow even paler then before. "Yes, it's me." I said softly. He sighed in relief, but didn't lay back down. He used the pillows to prop himself up, and then sighing, lay back on them, still upright. He looked at me. "I'll leave." I said, started to leave. "Wait." He said softly. I turned to look at him. "Please stay. When your here, it's easier to sleep." I went back over to the bed, and dragged over a chair so I could sit next to him. He smiled at me. "Kid." I said hesitantly. "What are you dreaming about?" He grimaced. "You don't have to tell me." I said hurriedly. He sighed. "If you are waking me up every night, you deserve to know." he said at last. He settled himself better into the pillows, and started.

"I have the same dream every night. I'm in a world filled with madness. I am attached to puppet strings, controlled by the madness. I can't move or speak when I want to. Everything is asymmetrical in this world, but I can't close my eyes. And then my friends come, trying to save me. But every time they get close, a trap door opens and they fall down screaming." He stops, shaking. Then he pushes himself to continue. "And when everyone has fallen, the madness throws me into a pit. This pit is completely dark, and for some reason, I know something in it is completely evil. And I feel that thing creeping closer and closer to me. You always wake me up right before I can see it."

He is still shaking. I sit on the edge of the bed, and hug him. "That sounds awful." I said softly. I remembered the tea, and handed it to him. "T-Thanks." he said, and took the mug. He sipped it slowly, keeping his eyes closed.

I sat there watching him. Eventually I realized he had fallen asleep with the mug still in his hands. I gently pried his hands away from the mug and put it on the bedside table. Then I gently pulled the pillows out from behind him and lay him back down. I looked at him laying there, and felt so sad. I wished I could help more. I stumbled back to my room and into my bed. I didn't fall asleep until much later, and when I did, it was a very light sleep.

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_Thank you for the review, anonymous person! Anyway, I have more chapters waiting, they will be up soon. I wish I could type as fast as I think of chapters! Please Comment!_


	9. Chapter 9- A Strange School

_Hey, Im really sorry about how long it's been since I last updated, Im working on three other new stories... Anyway, this chapter is kinda short, because I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer. :3_

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Everyone had to get up early the next morning. After all, it was Monday, meaning today would be my first day of school, even though Alex told me the first quarter was already over. Getting up earlier then usual was... Well, lets just say I said a few choice words when I was getting dressed. I stumbled downstairs, and found that everyone was already there, and they looked just as sleepy as I did. Kid had fallen asleep at the table again. I was too tired to cook, so we all ate cereal. Then me and my partners grabbed our bags. "Aren't you coming? You're going to be late." I said to Liz. She looked embarrassed as she said, "We always arrive to school an hour late, so that we can start at eight. Kid freaks out if we don't." The said person was still asleep. I chuckled, then said, "Ok, then we will see you at school." She nodded, and then me and my partners were walking out the door. We chatted about random things like the nice weather while we walked to DWMA. When we got to the top of the steps, I couldn't resist looking back. The whole city lay before me in breathtaking beauty, surrounded by rolling sand. Somewhere over that sand was my home. I sighed.  
"Come on, let's go!" Alex's excited voice shouted in my head. I turned around and smiled. I was safe here, and I had them. That was all that mattered. We walked into the building, and found our first class. It was held in a lecture room, with seats that went up level after level. There were a few students already there, talking and laughing. Maka looked us and saw me, and waved us over. We sat down next to her and her partner. BlackStar and Tsubaki were on the other side of Soul, and they waved to us. "So, how do you like everything? Who are these boys? I'm surprised your already in this class!" Maka gushed excitedly. Soul looked bored, only faintly listening to his meister. "This is Alex and Kyle. They are my weapons." I smiled warmly at them. "I love everything about this place! Right now I'm staying at the Manor with Liz, Patty, and Kid." I replied. Her eyes widened, and she asked, "Are you going to stay there?" I nodded. "Lord Death said we could." She smiled. "That's cool!" she said cheerfully. Then I heard a rumbling sound from outside the classroom. Everyone in the room turned to watch as a man sitting on a black rolling chair rolled backward into the room. He hit a bump, and his chair flipped backwards onto the floor, leaving him lying on his back. I gasped and made to stand up, but Maka held me down. "This is normal." she whispered. I looked at the man. He had white hair, with a big screw sticking out one side of his head, which he was currently turning. He was wearing a white lab coat with stitches on it. "Hmm, I still can't seem to get this right..." he muttered to himself. "Anyway, good morning class!" He said, getting up and dragging the chair over to the desk at the center of the classroom. "I will take attendance. Albarn?" he asked, looking into the seats. "Here!" Maka replied. This went on for some time. Eventually, he seemed to reach the bottom. "I see that we have three new students. Ash, Kyle, and Alex." he read then looked up into the seats. We raised our hands, and he looked over at us. Then he seemed to look really hard at us. I realized he must be looking at our souls. I quickly checked my soul, knowing that the spell was still in place. In return, I looked at his soul. It was very big, and covered in stitches. "What's with this guy?" I thought.  
The door swung open, and I looked to see Kid, Liz and Patty walk into the room. The man sighed, then said, "I'm glad you decided to join us." turning back to me and my partners, he said, "Welcome to the class. I'm Doctor Stein. Anyway, today we will be dissecting something new." The class groaned as he uncovered a cage from the back of the room. A giant panda sat inside it. Maka raised her hand. "Since this is an endangered species, shouldn't we not kill another one?" she asked pointedly. I had the feeling she had said this many times before. Dr. Stein sighed, then said, "Your right of course Ms. Albarn. Well, if we are not going to do dissections, then you will pair off to fight. First, lets have Ms. Albarn and her partner, verses BlackStar and his partner. They got up and smiled at each other. Then they walked down to the center of the room. Soul transformed, and Tsubaki turned into a pair of pick-axes chained to each other. The meisters took up fighting positions in front of Dr. Stein. "Start." the teacher said, sounding bored. Maka lunged at BlackStar with her scythe. BlackStar skipped backward and retaliated with swinging Tsubaki at Maka. Maka flipped over him and spun around, swing soul in a wide arc. BlackStar ducked, and his hand started pulsing with yellow soul wave length. He shot out his hand, slightly brushing Maka. She grunted and skidded backwards as BlackStar's wavelength hit her. BlackStar raised his hands in triumph. His guard was down, so Maka attacked, swinging Soul at his chest. He divided sideways, but Soul still cut his arm. They backed away from each other, breathing heavily. I was on the edge of my seat, staring down at the action.  
The bell rang, scaring me half to death. I think I must have jumped eight feet in the air. The weapons transformed back to normal, and everyone started to leave the class. I went over to where Liz and Patty were getting up. "That was amazing!" I said breathlessly. They laughed. "That's pretty normal around here." I stared at them. "You mean, I'm going to have to fight people?" That made them really crack up. "I meant my classmates!" I hurriedly reiterated. "Yea, eventually." Liz said though giggles. I fake glared at them, then left to find my next class. It turned out to be at the field. And judging by the name "The Properties of Fighting" I guessed that we would be doing just that. I went to join every one gathered around a teacher, with blue skin and a hole in his head. "He's a zombie." I realized as everyone stopped talking in apprehension. "Listen up!" the man shouted. "Today we will be fighting! As usual. We will start... now! With you and you!" He said, pointing to two girls in the class. As everyone formed a large circle around them, I realized they were going to fight without their partners. "Go!" The zombie shouted. Both girls transformed halfway, so that one girl's arm had become a sword, and the other girl's arm was a spear. They attacked each other violently, but never really did much damage to each other. They were very well matched, both being very good at defense but having poor offense. Eventually the zombie said, "Stop! That's good." The two girls stumbled back to the circle and promptly sat on the grass, breathing hard. "Now, you and you!" He said, pointing to me and a guy from the back of the class. I blinked, then walked calmly into the circle. I mean, how bad could it be?

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_Hmm, should we make it bad? Anyway, comment if you have any good ideas! Thanks for reading!_


	10. Chapter 10- After School

_Sorry for the long wait... Been so busy with a vacation and Christmas, and I haven't had wifi... Anyway, hope you all like my school! Sorry bout the classes, I couldn't think of any other teachers_...

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The boy walked out, standing about three feet away from me. He was bald, with black spikes coming up from the side of his head. He looked at me and sneered. "No one can beat the lightning king!" He proclaimed loudly. I just got into a fighting stance, my left foot back, my right foot forward. "Go!" the zombie shouted. Immediately the boy sprang forward, spinning on his heel to try to get behind me and into a blind spot. I grinned inside. This guy really thought I couldn't fight. Well, I didn't train with my dad for 14 years for nothing. I stuck out my right foot. The boys eyes widened as he tripped and fell to the grass. "Come on Ox! Get up! Beat the newbie!" a boy from the crowd shouted amid the laughing at the boy's fall. The boy, Ox, got up slowly, groaning at the yellow bruise appearing on his arm. I guess he hit a rock or something. Ox glared at me. "You won't get away with that again! Now I won't go easy on you!" he shouted, leaping at me. I stepped to the side, smiling. Then I felt a hand grab my shirt. I looked down into Ox's face, who had turned to the side at the last second and grabbed me so that he wouldn't face plant again. I had just enough time to duck backwards before his fist hit the air were I had been seconds ago. I swung my foot forward, knocking Ox's legs out from under him. He retaliated by grabbing one of my pigtails, dragging me down with him. I shrieked, and involuntarily flared my arms about me, accidentally hitting Ox on the back of the head. He yelped, letting go of my hair. I jumped backwards, kicking him in the process. He jumped up again, swearing up a storm as he rubbed the back of his head. I glared at him as gingerly touched my own head, feeling where my scalp had been pulled. "You. Will. Not. Win!" he said between gasps. I growled back at him, feeling my anger starting to push through my forced calm. This guy was really beginning to annoy me. I crouched down as he ran toward me. Then I sprang into a front flip, sailing over him. I hit the ground and spun on my toes, and grabbed one of those weird spikes on his head. He shrieked a not-very-manly shriek, and I pulled harder. He fell to his knees, crying out in pain. I felt my hands heat up, and I stumbled backwards. My anger was loosening my soul protect, and beneath my fake red soul I could feel my real soul burning with rage. I quickly pushed my anger down. I couldn't have my soul come out now, surrounded by witch hunters. Instead, I slowly walked back to Ox, who was still kneeling, rubbing his head and groaning. I hit my foot hard against his back, sending him to the dirt. I leaned down slowly, and kneeling on his back, I spoke in a very quiet, threatening voice, "Do you give up, lightning king?" His voice came back to me faintly, rough with pain, "Yes." I nodded, and stepped off of him, brushing my hands off. The boy who had cheered for Ox rushed to him, asking him hurried questions. I walked back over to the teacher at his beckoning. He looked me up and down, then said in his deep voice, "Well done. My name is Sid. I presume you are Ash?" I nodded my assent. He clapped me on the back hard, then pushed me back to my classmates. They looked at me in dawning respect, and I had to hide my smile. I went back over to my friends, who congratulated me. I bent down and picked Alex up, spinning him around as he shrieked with glee. I laughed, then set him down. Just as I was watching Ox peel himself off the ground, the bell rang. The class rushed out of the room, and I followed the crowd, letting Liz grab my arm and pull me wherever we were supposed to go next. It actually turned out to be the end of school. I couldn't believe it, we only had two classes a day. But since each class was three hours, it was actually a longer day then you would think. Liz pulled me out the door, following Patty and Alex, who were racing down the stairs at breakneck speed. Kyle raced up beside Liz, and Liz let go of me to grab his hand. Then they were running too, laughing and jumping down the stairs. Then BlackStar was rushing past me, dragging a very annoyed Soul. Tsubaki was racing after BlackStar, and Maka was right behind her. I slowed to a walk, laughing at my friends. I heard footsteps, and turned to see Kid walking down the stairs, looking after everyone else. I slowed even more, waiting for him to catch up with me. I smiled at him as he came up next to me, and he smiled back. "That was very impressive. Ox is one of the top of our class." "Thanks." I said, blushing a little. He smiled. Then his expression darkened, and he asked me, "While you were fighting, did you feel a witch soul? Or something like a witch soul, except not one. It felt huge, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from..." I gulped, then said shakily, "No. I didn't sense anything." He looked at me with a funny expression on his face, then went back to his normal strict self. "Well, if you ever feel it, come tell me." I nodded hurriedly, then turned to the side, thinking over and over, "Crap! If Kid could feel it, did the teacher? Or even Lord Death? Then I would be dead!" Kid looked at me again, then said softly, "It's ok, we will catch her. You don't have to worry." I smiled shakily, pretending to be relieved by his words. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he was interrupted by a shout from BlackStar, who was standing at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey, you two lovebirds! Hurry up! The amazing BlackStar wants a donut!" he shouted up at us. I glared at the bluenett, blushing furiously. Kid would seem unaffected, except for the very pale pink blush creeping up the back of his neck. We raced down the steps together, trying to catch up with the others, who were already racing down a side street I didn't know. Soon I was yet again completely lost as we twisted and turned down alleys. The only thing keeping me from losing my friends was Kid, who had saw I was falling behind and had grabbed me hand. Now he was pulling me down another tight street, through the townspeople who bustled about, going in and out of the stores and houses. Then we were out in a big open street filled with even more people, and Kid stopped, gracefully turning on his heels to face a store. Lets just put it this way, I'm not usually a very graceful person. I yelped as I skidded into Kid, almost knocking him off balance, and put out my hands at the last second to keep my face from connecting with the stone street. But before my hands touched the ground, Kid caught me around the waist and pulled me back up. I was blushing and trying to stutter out a sorry or a thank you when I heard laughter. I looked up into Kid's face, shocked. He had his hand pressed against his mouth and he was desperately trying not to laugh, but I heard it. It was deep and soft, just like his voice. I blushed deeper red and examined my shoes. "That was beautifully executed." he said quietly, still trying to regain his composure. I felt him grab my hand, and he pulled me inside, still breathing irregularly. I looked around to see a cute little coffee shop, with the rest of my friends already sitting in a table near the bar. I realized this was the place I had been trying to find on my second day in the city, before I had met Alex and Kyle. I dragged over a chair, and sat down with everyone. Soul, Maka, and BlackStar were having a heated debate about something. I cringed as Soul got chopped on the head with a book, leaving a smoking indent. Kyle and Liz were talking quietly, hand in hand. I smiled at them, and Kyle winked at me. Patty had somehow got a giraffe toy, and she and Alex were playing with it, laughing. Patty was it's voice, making the giraffe a very high pitched male. Alex moved him around. They would collapse into giggles when they accidentally made the giraffes movements contradict what it was saying. I smiled and went to sit with Tsubaki, who was trying to catch a waiters eye. Just as I sat down with her, a waiter did finally come over.  
"What would you like?" a teenager asked, sounding bored. "I want some green tea please, and he" Tsubaki said, pointing to BlackStar "would like some a latte and a donut. What do you guys want?" she asked the rest of the table. "Could I have some peppermint coffee with a little cream please?" Maka asked sweetly as she hit Soul again, who had been teasing her mercilessly. "And give him a cappachino." she said, indicating her smoking partner. Patty ordered two hot chocolates for her and Alex, and Liz and Kyle got a big milkshake to share. I ordered a small vanilla milkshake, it looked good. Kid just got a small black coffee. The waiter left looking disoriented, and I felt a little bad for him. There were a lot of us. I leaned over to hear just what Maka, Soul and BlackStar were arguing about. "Maka, it's just a game..." Soul said slowly. "There's no need to get so worked up." BlackStar sniggered. "Yea, just a game." he said, emphasizing that it certainly was not just a game. Soul glared at BlackStar while Maka almost screeched, "It's my turn to host, and I am certainly not having that game at the party!" I blinked, confused. Tsubaki whispered to me, "They want to play truth-or-dare." I cringed. I would have to do any dare they want, just because if I picked truth, they might ask about my past. So far I had managed to avoid answering any casual questions about my home, but if it was in a game like this, it would look suspicious if I didn't answer. And I really didn't want to lie to my friends. The BlackStar said, "Why don't we vote on it. Anyone who wants to play truth-or-dare at the party Friday put your hand in the middle." he slammed his hand down, followed shortly by Soul. Tsubaki looked at me with the a degree fear in her eyes, but also the glint of excitement that comes from the thrill of doing something like this. I knew she would vote to do it. I watched as she put her hand in, as Patty and Alex shot there hands in giggling. Kyle shrugged and looked at Liz, who took his hand and put it in the middle with hers. I shrunk down in my seat, then sat up. I hadn't been invited to the party, so I didn't have to worry. I didn't even know what the party was for. The waiter came back with our drinks as Kid looked around, looking annoyed at the results. I guess that he always had to pick truth, or else he might have to make something asymmetrical. Maka glared at everyone, then sighed. "Well, then I guess that settles that. You guys are coming too, right?" she asked me and my partners cheerfully. I opened my mouth to come up with some excuse, but Alex beat me to it. "Of course we are coming!" he shouted into my mind. Maka nodded, and I sank down in my seat again, sipping my milkshake without really tasting it. It was going to be a disaster.

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Ok, Im sorry if the next chapter may not come out for a while... I'm really busy school. But please review, and comment any dares or truths you think would be good! I'm open to most suggestions, (just have to be T rated.) Thanks!


	11. Chapter 11- Flight and Fright

**I'm sorry for the wait! I had wanted to put the whole party in one chapter. But the party is actually so long that I split it in two. Enjoy!**

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The week zoomed by, even though I dragged my feet. School was easy once I got the rhythm, and the homework was light. I usually did written homework in the living room, and so did Kid, Liz and Patty. Liz helped Patty when she could, but Kid usually ended up helping them both. I pay more attention in class, so I usually don't need help, but when I do, Kid is a very good teacher. He's patient, even though to him this stuff comes as naturally as breathing. I trained every evening up in the attic, where I wouldn't be disturbed. I meditate and focus on my powers, locking them away and adding layer after layer of protection. Then I begin whatever exercises the teachers assigned. And every night, I wake Kid up from that nightmare. It's not as bad as before. Ever since he told me about it, they seem to be getting better, which is a relief for both of us. I hate being grumpy. Anyway, as I said, time sped by and it was Friday afternoon before I knew it. I knew I really had no excuse to avoid the party.

As I walked home with my friends, I heard the excited whispers going around. Patty and Alex had devious grins on their faces as Patty explained some plan. Soul, and BlackStar were also talking in low whispers, though I couldn't tell what they were talking about. Maka bounced along with Tsubaki, chatting and planing party things. And Liz and Kyle were just talking, about music and other things. I went over to Kid, to ask something that had been on my mind for a while.

"What exactly is this party for?" I asked Kid. He shrugged. "I don't know who started it, but ever since we became friends we have parties on Friday, once every month if we have time. We usually just eat and hang out at whoever's house is turn to host. Sometimes we play games, but not too often. We haven't played truth-or-dare before, and I wished we weren't going to today." he said, making a slight face at the idea. I shuddered. He looked at me, then smiled. "Here, you wanna make a pact?" I shrugged, then nodded. "Ok, so you won't make me make anything asymmetrical if I..." he declared, trailing off to let me insert something. "Don't make me say anything about my past." I said quickly. His eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch before he nodded his assent. I sighed in relief. That was one less person I had to worry about asking me things.

He smiled at me, then I saw his eyes light up. He grabbed my arm while pulling out Beelzebub, his skateboard, and before I knew it we were sailing above the city. I think I gasped. It was beautiful. "Hey, Kid, wait for us!" BlackStar shouted, trying to run after us, but we were going much too high and too fast. I turned to see Kid grinning- actually grinning!- at me. I laughed aloud as he sped up, and I almost lost my balance. I steadied myself, and reached out to try to catch the clouds. It was beautiful up here. I had just touched one when I felt the skateboard slow a little, and I lost my balance again. Quicker then thought I felt arms around my waist, and then I was pressed up against Kid. I stiffened, and slowly looked up to his face. He was looking down at me with a warm smile, his eyes silently asking me if this was ok. I relaxed into him, and felt his body shudder slightly in response. I noticed how warm he was compared to the cold wind, and how nice it felt to be held. I closed my eyes and just tried to embed everything about the moment into my memory.

I felt Beezlebub slowing, and then stop. I opened my eyes to see we were in front of the mansion. Kid slowly pulled his arms away from my body, and I got off the skateboard. I turned back to him as he was putting Beezlebub away. I didn't know what to say. He looked at me, then said in a low voice, "L-let's do that again sometime." That pink blush was back on his neck, except it was almost to his ears now. I nodded silently.

We walked inside, and I went up to my room and closed the door. I fell onto my bed, trying to silence the giggles that were coming up from my chest. I didn't know why I felt so light, but I felt like I was still soaring above the world. I unpacked my bag, and started on Dr. Stein's homework. I wasn't very focused, but I was able to finish it before Liz and Patty came home. Liz ran strait up to my room, eyes bright and excited.

"OMG, Kid's never done that before! How was it? Isn't it great up there? What happened?" I smiled, trying to hide my blush. "It was great. It's so nice up there! And n-nothing happened." I said, unable to hide the shakiness in my voice. She pressed her lips together, then laughed. "Truth-or-dare is tonight, and I know what I'm asking Kid!" she sang as she skipped out of my room. I blushed full-out, and turned away from the door, trying to think about something, anything, except that ride. I mean, it's really not that weird. We were just friends! ... But I couldn't help but think, did I want to be just friends? I pushed it to the back of my mind. He had just wanted to show me something cool, no more no less. I got up, went upstairs to the attic. I trained for an hour while the girls did their homework. Then I got showered and changed. I packed some pajamas and toiletries in a bag, and went downstairs to find a sleeping bag. I went over to Liz, who was puzzling over a math problem.

"The answer is 8." I said. "Anyway, do you know if there are any extra sleeping bags?" Liz wrote down the answer, then turned to me in her chair. "We don't use sleeping bags." she said. "We bought blow-up air mattresses a while ago. Their Queens, so we all just share." She grinned at me. "Just think, you can sleep with Kid." I hit her playfully, then turned to finish packing. I put my bag at the door, and went back to the living room. I found another unfinished rubix cube, and I played with it until everyone else was ready. The wonderful lightness in my stomach had left me, and all that was left was a sinking stone of dread.

Patty came racing down the stairs and was jumping on me before I knew what was happening. "We are going to a PARTY!" she shouted, bouncing and running around. I grabbed her and threw her into the air. She shrieked in surprise, then I had caught her again and threw her even higher. She laughed as I plucked her from the air and pushed her onto the couch, tickling her as she screamed. It must have looked weird, since I am smaller then her. I heard Liz come down the stairs with Kyle, and I finally let Patty up. She was giggling in between gasps for air. Alex came down with Kid. I grabbed my bag, and we left the house. Maka's house wasn't far, and soon we were in front of the apartment.

Soul was the one to open the door. "Hey guys. You are the last ones to come, everyone else is already here. Come in." he said, a little bored. Or was that supposed to be cool? I could never tell. We walked inside, and I looked around. It was very cute, if pretty small. BlackStar and Tsubaki were in the living room, with a girl with purple hair I didn't know. She was barely wearing anything. "Ooh, new people!" she giggled, and leaped towards us. "You wanna play with Blair?" She said, almost jumping on Kyle. The confusion on his face was just perfect. She looked disappointed with the reaction, and tried to move to Alex before she realized how young he was. She looked me up and down, then pouted. "Where are all the adorable guys? Oh well, I still have my Soul!" she said, shoving her boobs into his face. I blanched, and Soul got a nose-bleed. "Maka-CHOP!" Maka said as a book hit Blair's head. "Ow-ie!" she said in her girly voice, and she let go of Soul. Kid sighed, almost silently. Maka glared at Blair, and then ushered everyone into the living room to sit and talk. We all squished onto the couches, with Blair somehow turning into a cat and trying to sit on people's laps. Eventually I grabbed her and put her on my lap, where she lay and began to purr. Kyle and Soul looked at me relief. Maka brought out some food, and we talked and ate. We talked about school, and missions, and random other things. I sat silently and listened, closing my eyes and relaxing with my friends. It felt so weird, to know you were completely safe, and that you were surrounded by people who liked you and cared about you.

Soon the sun had set, and the grinning moon had risen into the night sky. Maka convinced the guys to push the couches up against the walls, and then everyone began to pull out mattresses. Liz called one with Kyle, and Alex and Patty wanted to be together to play. Maka slept with Soul, and BlackStar with Tsubaki. That just left Kid and me. Liz winked at me as I brought my stuff over to him and he moved over for me. We were in the corner, so we could lean up against the wall.

Then Maka got a flashlight, and she announced it was time for the game, which was greeted by cheers and groans. She passed it Soul, since he was on her left. He looked around, then asked Liz, " Truth or dare?" She thought, then said, "Truth." He looked at her, then said, "if you and Kyle had one minute to live, and you were locked in a room together, what would you do?" She didn't even hesitate before saying, "Kiss him 'till the world ends. My turn!" Kyle blushed, and he smiled and pulled her closer to him. I had to hand it to her, she wasn't shy.

"Kid, truth or dare?" she asked, grinning. "Truth." he said automatically. BlackStar sighed in disappointment, which earned him a glare from Kid. "Kid, what exactly happened this afternoon when you went skateboarding with Ash?" she asked evilly. I groaned and put my head in my hands. He looked completely composed though when he said. "Nothing much. We went up approximately 18,000 feet, and she tried to touch the clouds." Then he started to blush as he continued, "She lost her balance, and I caught her. And t-that's it." He looked at me, and I blushed too. Liz grinned. "Kid, is that everything?" "Y-yes." he said. She looked at me, then shrugged, as if deciding not to press.

"Kid, your turn." He sighed, then looked around. "Patty, truth or dare." he asked finally. She literally bounced as she squeaked, "Dare!" He sighed, then looked around. "I dare you... To show everyone your dance to that song. What was it? Diamonds or something?" Patty grinned, then grabbed a yellow iPod out of her bag, and flipped it to a song, and hit play on the highest volume. Then she began to dance around. She jumped around, and waved her arms, and looked like she was having a seizure. Everyone laughed and laughed until the song was over. She was grinning hard when the song was finally over.

"Ok, my turn. Alex, truth or dare?" she asked grinning. Alex thought, then told Kyle, "Whatever you want." Kyle relayed this to Patty. "Cool! Ok, I pick dare. Go kiss Blair!" Alex made a face, then picked up the sleeping cat. He lightly pecked the top of her head, then put her back down in my lap. She purred in her dreams. Alex wiped his mouth, trying to get the fur off it. Patty laughed and laughed. "Kay-Ha-Ha!"

"My turn!" Alex's voice tinkled in my head. "Kyle, can you translate for me? I wanna ask BlackStar." "Ok." Kyle said. "BlackStar, Alex asks you truth-or-dare." "Yahoo! Someone finally dares to ask the great and amazing BlackStar!" he shouted. Everyone sighed and/or groaned. "Dare, of course!" BlackStar said boldly. Alex grinned, and I got the impression that was exactly what he wanted. Then I heard Alex speak again. But this time it was- blurred. I couldn't make out the words. Maka's face mirrored my confusion, though Kid didn't look surprised. I realized Alex must be able to control who hears his voice.

My attention flew back to Kyle as he gasped, then shook his head violently. "No! I will not repeat that!" Kyle said sharply. I could almost make out the plea Alex sent to his brother, but Kyle flatly refused. Alex huffed and pouted, then appeared to think. After a beat, he said something else to his brother. Kyle reluctantly shook his head in assent, then said to BlackStar, "Alex dares you to kiss Tsubaki on the cheek." BlackStar blanched, and shot murderous looks at Alex, who was almost rolling on the sleeping bag laughing. Tsubaki blushed and looked down, playing with the edge of mattress she shared with her meister. Liz was leaning forward and grinning at the bluenett, waiting. The air seemed to almost still, and even Kid held his breath. BlackStar screwed up his face, then suddenly leaned over and pecked Tsubaki on the cheek. She blushed even redder, refusing to look up as BlackStar's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. Liz whooped, and Patty and Alex laughed. Even Soul chuckled low in his throat. I grinned at the pair of usually comfortable partners, who still wouldn't look at each other.

"I-It's my turn!" BlackStar stuttered out, his bashfulness falling off him as his energy returned. "Maka, truth or dare?" he said, back in his normal annoying volume. She sighed, then answered "Considering it's you asking, truth." BlackStar pouted, then put his head on his fist, thinking. Finally he straitened up, grinning. "Where are you the most ticklish?" BlackStar said evilly. Soul leaned in, matching his grin. Maka groaned, then said, "Is that the best you could come up with? Fine. The back of my neck. And don't touch it Soul!" she exclaimed, turning on her weapon, who sat innocently with his hand behind her back, holding as still as a cat. His mock surprise made me giggle, and even Maka couldn't look at him without losing her frown.

"Tsubaki, truth or dare?" She asked the shy girl. "Truth." she said quietly, and I noticed that her face was still slightly flushed from that kiss. Maka looked at her, searching for a good question. "Hmmm... Tsubaki, in your opinion which of BlackStar's qualities is the worst?" BlackStar scoffed. "I don't have any bad qualities!" But I could see the slight fear in his eyes as he looked at his weapon. Tsubaki looked at him, and seemed to be deep in thought. She seemed to be going through things, discarding them as she thought of worst. Finally she said quietly, "BlackStar doesn't always think before he rushes into something, especially when a friend is involved. A-and some day I'm afraid he might g-get hurt..." She stuttered, leaving her sentence hanging. No one made a sound. Then BlackStar leaned over, and awkwardly hugged her gently. "No one can hurt a god." he said softly. But he wasn't saying it in the usual manner, bragging or shouting to the heavens. It was more like he was making a promise, reassuring her. I looked away, feeling like I was intruding on something private. When I glanced back, all traces of the moment were gone, and everyone was back to their usual selves.

"Kyle, truth or dare?" Tsubaki asked hesitantly. Kyle looked at her, and considered. He seemed to way the worst outcomes, then said, "Dare." Tsubaki looked at him steadily, then said mumbled something. "What?" he asked her. She leaned over and whispered something in his ear. When she drew back, he was blushing, but he nodded. Everyone stared expectantly at him, but he said, "She wants me to do it later, and to keep it a secret." BlackStar and Soul sighed in disappointment. I guess they had hoped for something dirty.

Then Kyle turned to me. "Ash, truth or-" He cut off as Liz leaned into him and whispered something. He looked a little embarrassed, but nodded his consent. "Ok, I'm going to give you a choice. You can pick dare, to which I must ask you to kiss Kid." I choked, and Kid turned white, that same blush creeping up his neck. Liz grinned at us. "Or," Kyle said hurriedly, "you can do an easy one. Since you never did tell us, what was your life like before you came here? Where did you live and did you have any family?" I got even paler, and started to internally freak out. What could I do? I couldn't kiss Kid- but I didn't want to lie to my friends either. And I would lose them if I told them the truth. I buried my head in my hands. What should I do?

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_Mwa-ha-ha, the evil cliff hanger! :P Hoped you enjoyed the goofy dares, I couldn't really think of any... Oh well. Please PM me what you think Ash should choose. Please review!_


	12. Chapter 12- Mine

**Well, to make up for how long it took me to update the last chapter I wrote this as quickly as I could. I felt bad about leaving you all at a cliff-hanger :P Go my little ones, and find out what her choice was! :P**

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I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I guess they must be confused, they thought I would have started talking by now. I could see Kid looking at me out of the corner of my eye. He was still blushing, but it had faded to concern. He remembered me pleading to not ask about my past. I closed my eyes, and knew that I didn't have a choice. I tried to brace myself, and straitened up. Their eyes met mine, red and green, black and blue and brown.

"D-Dare." I whispered. And then I turned to the boy with the strange eyes, the beautiful golden eyes. Which were widened in complete shock, and he sat paralyzed as I leaned over and brushed my lips against his cheek. Oh Death it was soft, and radiated warmth like a small sun.

I pulled back as suddenly as I had leaned over, turning away to face the wall so I didn't have to see their faces, his face. I could feel the complete shock emanating from everyone.

Then Liz started to laugh, and Alex and Patty joined in seconds later. BlackStar started shouted something to get the attention back to him, and Soul got mad at him and tackled him. And then the room was in complete chaos, filled with shouts and laughter and the sound of protesting mattresses. And it was like everything was back to normal, as if it wasn't strange, that I had just kissed- I looked up to see Kid looking at me. I blushed, then shrugged. "I had no choice." I mouthed. He nodded. "I understand." he said, rubbing the back of his neck as if he wanted to erase his blush. I looked back at my friends, who were rolling around and play fighting, and smiled involuntarily.

I stood up, walked over to the still-rolling guys, and grabbed their hair and pulled them apart. They screeched and stopped fighting, desperately clawing at my hands. I laughed and said, "It's my turn now, so shut up and sit down!" I pushed them across the floor towards their designated sleeping spots, and they curled around their head whimpering as I grinned at them. I went back to my seat gracefully, internally laughing at my partners' faces.

"Now, since everyone has finally calmed down," I said calmly, "Soul, truth or dare?" Soul had sat back upright, and had been about to grab Maka's exposed neck. He shot his hand back and glared at me. "Truth." he said rigidly. I grinned at him, and he gulped.

"So Soul... What exactly where you about to do before I asked you truth or dare?" Soul glared at me harder, then glanced nervously at Maka. "I was, er... I was going to..." I grinned at him evilly. "Cat got your tongue?" Soul looked like he wanted to kill me. "I was going to tickle Maka's neck." He said between clenched teeth. Maka froze, then "Maka... CHOP!" And Soul's head had a huge dent in it, and I was laughing so hard I fell over, and then almost everyone was laughing. Maka just glared at her moaning partner, while Kid watched in mild amusement. And then the circle was completed, and the game was over.

I sighed in relief and followed Maka to her room with the rest of the girls so we could change into our pjs. I watched in growing horror as she drew multiple bolts across the door and locked her window, drawing the curtains. "Why all the precautions?" I asked, worried. Liz laughed. "The guys always try to sneak a peek at us. It's a tradition!" I gulped, and tried to hide behind the bed. I watched the other girls change, trying not to stare at their boobs and compare them to my own chest. I wouldn't call myself flat-chested, but I'm certainly not like Liz or Patty. I pulled off my shirt, and was taking off my pants when I heard a sound coming from behind the mirror across the room. It was a huge full-length mirror, and I could see the other girls in it. I jumped behind a post, and turned to stare at the others. They were still joking around, oblivious to the giggling and snorts behind the mirror.

I pulled on my pajamas as quickly as I could, and walked over to mirror. I heard the girls behind quiet as I pulled on a weird piece of wood, and then the mirror slid back, revealing BlackStar and Soul laughing on the floor. "Maka-CHOP!" And their blood started to stain the carpet.

I stepped over them to the passage behind them, which led me back to the living room. Alex and Kyle were already changed, and Kid was no where in sight. Blair was still asleep. I settled back into my place, and tried get comfortable on the edge of the mattress, as far from Kid's side as possible.

Alex bounced over to me, destroying my neatly spaced covers. "Why didn't you tell us about your family?" Alex asked innocently. I sighed and ruffled his hair. "Maybe some day. Just- not now." He looked at me without comprehension, and I knew he didn't understand, that he couldn't understand. He just shrugged, and went back over to his brother, who was reading a sports magazine on snow-boarding. I buried my head in my pillow, blocking out the noises coming from the girls room and trying to relax enough to fall asleep.

"Hey, are you ok?" I heard Kid ask from above me. I pretended to be asleep. It was easier that way. There was silence, then a small sigh. I felt the covers shift as he got into the "bed", and I could hear his breathing. Then all was still. I waited for the girls to come back in, but I never heard them come back. I fell fast asleep with Kid's body radiating heat a foot from mine.

I woke up in the middle of the night choking. Something had hit my throat, cutting out my air. I scrambled to a sitting position, searching the dark desperately for my attacker. The something kicked my foot. I looked down to see Kid thrashing around like a wild thing, his mouth open in a silent scream, his face contorted with pain. I grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Kid. Kid!" he bolted upright, his hands inches from my face, about to hit me. He was looking at me, but he didn't seem to see me. "Kid! It's me!"

He met my eyes, and his hands dropped to his sides. His chest was still heaving, and his eyes were almost more white then gold as they glistened in the darkness. He dropped his head, his eyes hidden in by his gentler hair, which was shaking. His whole body was shaking. It had been getting better, but it was back to the first time now. I didn't really notice my hands, which moved up to his head and slowly touched his hair. He stiffened slightly, then relaxed. I massaged the back of his neck, trying to release the cords of tension running through his body. He sighed, and leaned on my shoulder. I kept massaging him, wishing I could do more then just try to pick of the pieces. His breathing slowed, and I felt him finally relax as he drifted to sleep. I stayed still for a bit, enjoying the feeling of his hair brushing my cheek.

Then I sighed, and gently pushed him of of me and lay him down. I started to pull my arms from him, but suddenly, Kid grabbed my arm. I looked at his face in surprise, and saw that he was still asleep. He pulled my arm again, and I was forced to lay down close to him for fear of waking him. And then he cuddled my arm. I stifled a laugh at the show of childish affection from him. I tried to pull my arm away, but he clung to it tighter. "...mine..." he mumbled in his sleep. I giggled involuntarily, then put my hand over my mouth, watching him. He stirred and pulled my arm against his chest. I froze. I could feel his abs through his shirt. I waited for him to relax his grip, then pulled. But his reflexes were faster then mine, and he pulled me even closer to him. I was almost touching him now. I sighed, then waited for him to relax again. But he never did, and my heavy eyes betrayed me as I slipped into darkness.

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_Well, she chose Dare! :P very predictable I know, but hey, it is partly a romance ;) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE! luv you all! :3_


	13. Chapter 13- Soul Protect- Off

Heyyo, Im back from the longish break. Sorry, I've had the idea forever, I just haven't wrote it down. Anyway, thanks for all the comments :) Enjoy!

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I slowly regained consciousness, leaving my eyes closed. I could feel something warm against the left side of my body, and I cuddled into it without thinking. That is, until I realized what I was doing.

My eyes snapped open. Somehow I had got even closer to him, and my whole body was firmly pressed against his. My head was on his chest, and he had let go of my arm to hold my whole body against his. His face was buried in my hair. I weighed my options. I could pull away and get up, but that would run the possibility of waking him. But if I stayed still, he might wake up with me still in this position. I groaned in my head.

I slightly turned my head to see if I could get up, and felt Kid stir. I immediately closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep. I felt Kid slowly wake up, and heard his intake of breath as he realized our position. I kept my breathing slow, wondering what he would do. The seconds ticked by slowly, and I started to wonder whether he had fallen back to sleep. Then I heard him sigh, and he untangled his arms from around me. Then he picked me up as easily as a baby, and gently lay me down on the other side of the mattress. He lay back down on the edge of his side, and pulled the covers over both of us.

A few seconds ticked by. Then a minute. And still I waited, and waited, and waited.

Finally, I heard the slight humming sound Kid made when he was deep in sleep, and I was able to open my eyes. He was lying symmetrically strait, almost like he was in a coffin. I slowly sat up, and looked around the room. And the sight of my other friends made me want to giggle so bad I had to pick up my pillow and push it on my face to stay quiet.

To my right Soul had his neck buried in Maka's neck, and she had her arms around his chest. Their hair was mixed across the pillow, making a brown and white swirl on the pillow. Next to them Patty and Alex were completely splayed out, their limbs hanging off the mattress. Yet amount the chaos of their bodies and the tangled blanket, they still somehow found a way to hold hands. Almost across from us were Liz and Kyle, cuddled together so perfectly that any model would be jealous. And over Kid I could see BlackStar and Tsubaki. BlackStar was splayed out like Alex and Patty were. But he still managed to put his protectively arm around his weapon, who had her arm on his chest.

I smiled at the adorableness of them all. Then I got an idea. I slowly crawled over to my bag, and took out my camera. I had bought it a few days ago to take pictures of my friends, to remember them all. I needed something to have of them if I had to leave quickly. I turned it on, and slowly crept around, taking pictures on silent. Finally I was satisfied with the angles, and I turned it off and put it back in my bag.

I stretched, then padded into the kitchen, looking for a clock. The stove said it was only six in the morning. Considering how late everyone else had went to bed, I assumed they would sleep in late. I grabbed my shoes, looked at them, then left them at the door as I walked out.

I navigated the maze of streets, watching the silent city sleep away the morning. I got to the border, and kept walking, far out into the dessert. I walked for at least eight miles before I found a hill that seemed perfect for watching the sun rise. I sat in the sand, and focused in on myself.

I felt my soul, and finally took off the soul protect spell. I relaxed as I felt my soul burst out, growing and growing until it had gone back to it's normal size, about the size of DWMA. It felt so nice to let all of my power out, instead of containing it in the size of a human soul as big as my fist. I hadn't realized how tense I was until I was so relaxed.

I brought my hand in front of me, closed my hand into a fist. When I opened it, a spark danced on my palm. I smiled and played with it, making it dance across my palm. I slowly increased the exercise, first expanding it to the size of my fist, then tossing between my hands like a ball. I tossed it into the air, then made it burst into a thousand fiery splinters which shot into the ground all around me. Then I played with the smoke, making it thin and invisible and then thick and dark. It twisted like a snake with a snake charmer, and I shaped it into a flower, then a skull. I tried making BlackStar, but it just didn't look right without his blue hair. I smiled as it disappeared into the air, floating across the desert and dispersing into the wind.

I fell back into the sand, staring at the sky. Maybe this could work. I would take on mission, work hard in school, and appear to be a normal meister. And when I could sneak out some days and let out my power, and no one would ever have to know. I mean, Kou must be far away by now, right? It had been a month, he should have stopped looking for me by now. And even if he was looking, why would he ever suspect a place where witches where hated? No, he would have passed it by, and hopefully he was far enough away he couldn't see my soul.

I shook off the thought of my brother, and turned my thoughts to lighter things. Literally. I gathered my pent-up power and pushed it through my body, rushing like blood in my ears. And then I was burning, like a star against the morning sunrise as I used the fire to propel myself upward, flying into the sky. The wind whipped through my hair, and I laughed as I spun up, up into blue sky. I hadn't flown, really flown, since I left home. That's why it had felt so nice when Kid had let me be up in the sky again...

I shook off the thought of the young Death God and just flew. Up and up until I was amount the clouds, and I kept going, tunneling through them until all I could see was white beneath me and blue all around.

And then I turned off my fire and fell. I spread out my arms as I shot through the clouds, and then flipped over to see the imprint of my body in the sky. I flipped again so that I was facing the ground like a swimmer about to dive, and I rocketed down to earth. 50, 100, 200 miles per hour, racing to squish against the sand.

And within 20 feet of the ground I shot the fire through my hands and feet and I arced back upward, screaming and laughing with the excitement and danger. And I looked around at the sky-

and choked. Three black figures were racing over the sand towards me.

I froze.

Then I flew like hell. I had taken into account my evil brother, but I had forgot the soul perception of my friends.

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_Run child run! Hehe kesse. Anyway, I was bored of all the drama, I wanted some action. I want to send her on a mission soon... If she survives this, that is :P_


	14. Chapter 14- Burning Tigers

Well, no reviews. I am disappointed in you viewers. I know I have collected white a few loyal followers. So please review. Cause it brightens my day more then you can ever imagine. Thanks! (PS, who knew this poem had _SYMMETRY_ in it? :)

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"Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forests of the night, what immortal hand or eye, could frame thy fearful symmetry?" Why, of all this, was a William Blake poem in my head?

I flew. And flew. And flew. Racing across the rolling waves of sand as the sun taunted me, slowly rising ahead of me, grinning as if it wanted me to be caught. And caught I would be, if I slowed even the slightest.

I chanced a glance behind me. I could just make out their outlines, but they were gaining, and they were slowly becoming clearer. Which meant soon they would be able to see me. I tore out my pigtails, letting my hair fly in the wind as I began making clothes. Clothes of fire. First the went shirt, covered by a thick plate of hardened smoke. The my legs, again covered in smoke. Now even if they could see me, they-hopefully- wouldn't recognize me.

I looked back again. BlackStar was running with Tsubaki raised in his hand, tearing up the sand in clouds. Behind him Kyle was running with Alex, which peeved me. I should be doing that. If I weren't the one being hunted, that is.

Maka was above him, flying on Soul. I started, and almost faltered. I hadn't realized Soul was a Death Sythe. "Even better", I thought, exasperated. Could this get any harder? And ahead of them was Kid on Beezlebub, with Liz and Patty gripped in his hands. I was glad I wasn't within the range of their bite.

I turned and glanced down. I knew I couldn't outrun them- I may be fast, but I don't have unlimited magic. And I had been goofing off before, using a quarter up already. I searched of place where I could hide, even for a second.

There!

A pile of rocks, almost 14 feet tall. It wouldn't be the best shelter, but it would do. I called up the fire, and pushed it into the fought shape of my body. Then I dropped down to earth, keeping my fire clone above me to fly on. It wouldn't fool them for long, but it should be enough. I let myself fall, feeling the wind tear my hair into twisting shapes like the smoke around me. Then I hit the ground. I rolled to lessen the jarring impact and raced for the rocks, pushing them aside until there was a space big enough for my body.

Then I dove into myself. I felt my soul, pulsing with the magic and adrenaline, and shoved. Slowly, it bent to my force, and the smaller it got the faster it shrank, until it was the rough size of a human soul. Then I pulled my spell around it, and the fiery essence of it was hidden. Then I waited. I held my breath and listened, waiting to hear my pursuers, my _friends_, pass me.

I sighed, letting out my pent up breath. "This is what happens when you try to make friends with people who kill your kind for a living." I berated myself silently.

Then I heard the slight whir of Kid's skateboard, and the flap of little wings. And seconds later two sets of pounding feet raced past my hiding spot, and I knew that they were still following the trail of smoke left behind by my clone. They had no reason to check their soul perception and see that their quarry was gone. As soon as I had hidden my soul the clone had dispersed, it's magic cut off, so there was not even that to find.

I pushed out of the rocks and ran back for DWMA. If I could beat them I might be able to pass suspicion.

Might.

So I ran. Again. Death, my legs where not meant to run this much! Only a few miles into it my legs started to throb, and I groaned internally. I had really done a number on them when I had run from Kou. Still, I raced onward, knowing that the others could discover the trick and come back and moment. But soon the school was closing in before me, and I raced into the city.

I stopped, leaning up against a wall. Then I walked through the maze of alleys back to Maka's house. I opened the door, and collapsed on their couch. I was safe, for the moment.

I looked looked at their flat. Clothes were thrown in all directions, and the lack of symmetry would give Kid a heart attack. I laughed at the idea.

I sighed and rubbed my thighs, then got up to make breakfast for my friend when they got back from their wild goose chase. I made eggs, since there was virtually nothing else in their pantry, and cleaned up the clothes and fixed the mattresses while they were cooking. I finished just as my timer dinged, and I put them out on a plate. I put them in the oven so that they would stay warm, and went back to the couch. It felt so nice to get off my feet... Ouch, my feet.I looked down at them, and grimaced. Running in sand is hard on bare feet, and running that fast- well, they were a little bloody.

Then I heard feet at the door. I shoved my socks over them, covering the evidence as the party of dejected friends went came in the door. They were covered in sweat, and had sand falling off them in little drifts. "Where were you guys?" I asked, as confused as I could muster. Maka answered. "We were woken by Lord Death for a mission. A witch was detected a few miles from the city. He said the soul was strange, too big and, well, hot to be a normal witch. We ran out, without you since you weren't there, and we saw it and chanced it for a few miles. It was strange. It's soul was strange too; it really was big, and bright as a star. Then it disappeared without a trace. So we came home." She sounded so serious, and border and despairing. I tried to pretend like this as all very new and strange, though my heart was wrecked with fear and guilt.

Then Kyle turned on me. "Where were you? We had to go without you!" I let my guilt show a little, though the guilt was really from something else. "I just went for a walk. I wanted to see the sunrise." There, that was the truth, if not the whole thing. He looked at me, then seemed to accept it.

I pulled out the eggs, and everyone grinned in surprise and found hunger. They all grabbed plates, and I sat down and watched them eat.

I couldn't even think of eating. I felt sick. The fear wasn't going away, and my guilt was steadily increasing. What kind of friend was I lying to my own friends like this? Tricking them, forming bounds on false pretenses- for Death's sake I was their sworn enemy! I was the evil witch, to be hunted and splayed for my evil soul. That meant Maka and Soul had killed a witch. And even though I didn't feel grief for that witch, I still felt depressed. For I was beginning to realize, that when I left DWMA, I might not be running just from Kou- I might be running from my former friends, my only friends, the ones who were like a family to me. Because I was a traitor.

"Tiger, tiger, burning bright..." I whispered. "Tiger, you will die."

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_Hehe, I loved that ending :3 anyway, PLEASE review. Yes I am desperate. I admit it. So if you don't review, I will get Ash to burn you until you are just ash. Real ash. Not the person. You get my point :P_


	15. Chapter 15- A Mission

Did it! Had a long car ride, so I was able to get two chapters done! Woohoo! Anyway, enjoy children!

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"Tigers?" Alex said an inch from my face, kneeling in front of me. I jumped, and he laughed. "Are you upset you couldn't come with us? You really didn't miss us, it wasn't very fun..." He looked so concerned.

I pulled him over my lap and hugged him. I buried my face in his messy hair, and just breathed. How could I ever leave him, just move on, never to see his bright face again?

And then I felt large arms around me as Kyle sat next to me, and we were together. And I knew, that someday, they would have to know. Not just that I was a witch, everything. Because I could never leave them.

Alex squirmed in my arms, and I released him as Kyle let go of me. I looked at their faces. One young, relaxed, and bright, and nearly bursting with energy and a smile never far way. And one older, sterner, protective, yet easy to slip into a smile, a kind word, a gentle touch. Right now they both looked a little worried.

I forced myself to smile, to let my shoulders relax. They relaxed a moment later, and we smiled at each other, partners, friends- family. Then I asked had an idea that I knew would cheer them up, and help me to stop thinking for a while. "How about a mission?" I asked, casually.

Alex's face practically glowed as we walked to Lord Death's office. He bounced from wall to wall, yipping in glee and spinning in circles in the street. Even Kyle was smiling, his as potent as his brother's. I walked beside him, letting their feelings cover my own, until I was cheerful and ready to face anything. We raced up the stairs, taking three or four at a time, not even pausing to look at the view. Then we were running down the halls, sliding down banisters until we were at Lord Death's office.

I knocked on the door cautiously. "Come in, come in." I heard from within. I opened the door, and walked down the long path with my partners at my side. "Oh, hello, hello! What can I do for you?" Lord Death asked cheerfully, bouncing towards us. I smiled and started to answer, but Alex beat me to it. "We want to go on a mission! We want to get as many done in one shot as we can!" he exclaimed into our heads. "Now, let's not be hasty..." Kyle started, but Lord Death interrupted him. "I was wondering when you guys were going to ask for a mission. You are at a high enough level by far. Now, I actually have one I think will be perfect for you. In New York City, there is a gang of men who think that by eating human souls they will become immortal. There are about thirty of them running around and killing innocent people, and they are no longer human. They have become Kishins, and they have to be killed. Think you are up to it? It's a little difficult for a first mission, but you aren't exactly a normal team, since you skipped right to class A." "Sounds good. Thank you sir!" I said, and pulled my reluctant older partner out of the room.

"Do you think we can do it? That's a lot of people..." he said, glancing at his brother, who was currently running down the hallway screaming about Kishins and other related topics. "We will be fine. He will be fine." I said gently, but with conviction. I mean, how hard could it be? Then I thought about the last time I thought that, and blanched. It actually could be very hard. But, we were stronger now. And we aren't facing a shinnigami this time either.

New York is huge. And dirty. And it smells. But somehow, it still manages to be beautiful, even in this rain and smog. The streets are full of puddles, umbrellas and cars, and the people hurry past us, trying to get to their warm, bright houses before they are completely soaked. Yuck, rain. I hate rain. I can't use my power if I'm soaked. Henceforth, I like rain ponchos. Light and disposable. Easy to pull off and uncover my fighting clothes. I didn't really like how revealing it was, but it was very flexible and light. Plus, it had a small belt that could hold Alex and Kyle when I needed my hands.

"Hellooo, earth to meister!" Alex joked in to my head. I smiled at him, and straitened his over-large poncho. "I think we're here." Kyle said grimly. I looked up. Indeed, we were in front of the described location. In front of us was a shabby opium shop, with "The Den" in fading red letters. I grimaced at the smell emanating from the shop. We weren't really interested in that though. I followed the wall up, up looking for the sign. There. A small, red sign, that looked like a cross of a nightmare and a demented cow. No joke, it always looked like a poorly drawn cow to me, though no one else seemed to see it. I nodded to my partners, and they transformed, their blades glinting in the streetlight. I put them into my belt. Then I walked over pipe on the side of the wall, and began to climb.


	16. Chapter 16- Witches, Here?

The pipe was slick with rain, but it was easy enough to climb. I jumped off, onto the roof of the dilapidated building, and crossed to the red mark. Then I looked down. From below, you could not see the opening in front of me. It was a small hole, with a ladder leading into the darkness. I tried to see down, but I already knew what I would find. I started climbing down slowly, prepared to grab my partners at any sound. Finally my foot found the bottom, and I turned around. In front of my was a door, with the same dumb cow scrawled across it. Except this time it wasn't in red paint, it was in blood. I grimaced and pulled out Alex and Kyle. Then I kicked in the door with my foot, and pushed my way into the room.  
There were about twenty people in the room as I entered. They just sat there at their gambling tables, shocked. Then feet pounded up the stairs at the back of the room, and five more men ran out onto the floor. They stopped, staring at me. "Members of the Gazibotso Gang, you have been collecting and consuming human souls for the purpose of attempting to prolong your own life, and therefore your souls have become Kishin eggs. And I have come to claim then all."  
They blinked at me. Then they laughed. "You? Kill us? A little girl kill trained killers? What a joke." I glared at them, but didn't bother responding. I just stabbed the guy off to my right, shoving both Alex and Kyle under his rib age and up into his lungs and heart. His laugh died in his throat, and he slumped sideways off his chair.

That shut them up.

The silence only lasted a second though before one to my left, a big fellow with fangs too big for his face- yes, fangs- roared and rushed me. I sidestepped him easily and drove the daggers into his exposed back. He dropped, coughing blood. Then they were all on me, and I was ducking and twirling, slashing at exposed hamstrings.

Four were dead around me when a man with eight hairy arms like a spider grabbed me by one of my pigtails and yanked me upward, pulling my feet off the ground. I yelped and stabbed Kyle behind my back and into his gut. He dropped me, and I ducked beneath a blade attached to someone's leg.

The dead kept piling around me, ten, twelve, fifteen.

Finally there was one left standing in front of me. He looked the least human out of the men, and seemed to be their leader. He had a gruesome mask covering his face, and had a body from nightmares. Most noticeable was the arching tail behind him, barbed with strange bony spikes that dripped a fizzing green liquid. Note to self, I thought. Stay away form spikes. Then he jumped me, and we began our dance of death. Again and again he slashed his tail at me, and again and again I spun away, ducking and jumped to avoid being impaled. I could feel the adrenaline running off my partners, and I knew it was probably coming off me too. I was dripping with sweat, and couldn't seem to find an opening in his fighting pattern.

I jumped backward, and then saw it. A slight opening strait to his chest was created every time he had to draw back his tail from an attack. I bounced on the heels of my feet, letting my instincts control my body as I tried to think of a strategy.

"Guys, there is an opening every time that tail comes at us. See it?" I asked my partners as my body automatically spun away from the knives in his hands. "Yea, I see it. But it's so small. I don't think you can fit in it." he said, doubtful. "No, I won't, not that fast. But one of you would." I saw understanding dawn in their eyes that had appeared on the face of the daggers. "I can do it! Throw me!" Alex shouted, excited.

Kyle started to protest, but it was too late anyway. I saw the leader's tail swing at my head, and instead of spinning away I ducked under and in towards his body. He tried to back away, surprised, but Alex had already left my hand. Time seemed to slow as he flew through the air. Then _twack_, he was buried in the brutes heart. The man gasped, then fell, clawing at Alex's hilt. I stepped forward and pulled Alex out of him, releasing a fountain of blood. The guy stared at me in horror as the life in his body flowed away in his blood.

And I can't say that I felt victory as he died. I don't even feel accomplished. All I felt was a strange white numbness. I turned and looked at the dead, and felt dead myself. Then all at once, their souls left their bodies and floated above them. They looked strange and gross, and pulsed and unhealthy light. And I felt the change in partners as they saw them. They seemed to become starving animals, staring at the souls. On instinct I pulled the hatch open at them bottom of their hilts, and the souls split into two groups and rushed into my partners. They simultaneously smiled in satisfaction, and they sighed in a weird pleasure.

Then they transformed back into humans. And looked at me. I realized they wanted me to tell them what to do next. "Let's go home." I said tiredly. All that adrenaline had left me, and all that was left of me was a dried husk off non-energy. They nodded, and we walked out the door, leaving the dead bodies and demented cows behind.

It turned out there were more of them then I had thought. That, or more had come in mid-fight, which was very possible. In the end, we collected forty souls. That was twenty souls for each weapon. It was surprising how easy it was to fall into the groove. Schoolwork, kill, sleep. Schoolwork, sleep, kill. We saw our friends when we could, but it seemed like DWMA was overrun with missions, and everyone was busy. And so a week passed. Then a month. And the pattern was never broken. Until now, that is.

Alex, Kyle and I were walking up the steps to go to school, when we saw two men in black suits. They seemed to stare right into our souls, and I cringed. But they passed over me. Their eyes fixed on a girl behind me. I knew who she was. Her name was Kim. "You need to come with us." the first men said firmly. She gulped, them followed him. I looked after her, confused.

"Where is she going?" I asked Liz, who had come up with Kid and her sister behind me. "Oh, Kim goes with them. Since she's a witch, she has a lot of information Lord Death needs. "What?" I asked, shocked. Kid answered me. "Kim came to DWMA as a meister and didn't tell us that she was a witch. Eventually father found out, and those men went to bring her to him. He just wanted to talk to her. But she was scared, and ran with her partner. After a few adventures, she came back. Now she helps us to understand witches better."  
I was completely stunned. Another witch was here? And even more shocking, she was accepted. Sure, she still hid her soul from the common rabble of lower class men, but she was still here. And her partner knew she was a witch. I glanced at my partners. Did that mean I should tell them? But no, after all this time, they would feel betrayed. No, I couldn't even imagine it. I shook the thought from my head and went on with the day.

But it still kept nagging me. What if they found out before I found the right moment to tell them? What would they do? Would they ever be able to trust me again?

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_There! Two chapters done, and no cliffhanger :) please please please review!_


	17. Chapter 17- Monty Python?

_Hey! I am back, having completely re-writing the whole set-up of the plot ;P I am disappointed in you all for no comments or PM's, but it can't be helped. Well, enjoy!_

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My worry faded as the weeks passed. The souls were piling up, and apprehension seized me as we counted out the last souls we had "earned" in the Death room. "96, 97, 98, 99!" Alex shouted as he absorbed the souls. Kyle smiled. "Same here. We are almost done." I shivered. Lord Death clapped his hands together. "Your team has collected souls faster then anyone else! And you had to get double the normal too... Yet you managed to collect the 99 Kishin souls in a month. Anyway, now all you need are witches' souls and you will you will become Death scythes." Alex danced around, and Kyle threw him into the air, both of them laughing. I think Lord Death was smiling behind his mask. I, on the others hand, was a little freaked out. I had to kill one of my own kind? But then again, they weren't really like me. They used humans as slaves, and ate their souls. I don't think I could ever do that... Well, if Lord Death said they were evil, then they deserved it.

"Why don't you take a break for a bit? I don't have any missions with witches at the moment, and anyway, it's almost Christmas. After the holidays you can back to work." Lord Death said cheerfully. "Ok!" Alex shouted, and dragged me and Kyle out of the room. He was so hyper! I smiled, and asked him, "Do you want to go to the park?" His eyes widened. Then he turned to his brother. "Please please please please please-" "Ok ok!" Kyle said, grinning. Alex jumped up and down, then started running for the park. Me and Kyle followed, laughing. I stopped at the top of the stairs for a second. Everything was covered in snow. It was a winter wonder land. And yes, it apparently snows in Nevada. Then I followed my partners down the steps.

We spent four hours at the park. First we made a snowman, (who Alex made atomically correct, and I laughed and laughed as Kyle blushed and brushed it way while scolding his giggling brother.) Then we pelted the poor thing with snowballs, and then each other. We built forts and hid, and tried to dig into each others forts. Kyle and Alex were very good at it. Me, not so much. I got tickled to death, and was pelted out of my fort many times, only to watch Alex eventually share my fate. Our laughter filled the sky with joy.

Eventually we got cold, so we headed home. Alex was still excited, but he was so tired he couldn't even manage to skip. I laughed and caught him as he fell asleep in the middle of walking up our front steps. I handed him to Kyle, who carried him inside. I followed him in, taking off the snow boots I had to buy a week ago. It had snowed a foot. Then two. Then three. Now there was three and a half feet of snow outside, and most of the town was closed. It was quiet, and beautiful.

I pulled off my coat and went into the living room. Surprisingly, everyone else was actually at home. Liz was painting her nails in honor of the festivities. Patty was trying shove an elf hat onto her favorite giraffe. Kid was on the couch, staring at the screen of his black MacBook (Logo-less, of course. The usual bitten apple is far from symmetrical.) I went over and peered over his shoulder. And started laughing. He jumped, and quickly closed the top down, but it was far too late. I had already seen it all.

"You- You watch Monty Python?" I laughed out. Kid blushed in his way, while Liz stared at him as if something had just jumped out of his chest. "Why is that so funny?" Kid asked softly. This made me laugh even harder. I jumped onto the table, and shouted, " 'Tis but a scratch. A scratch? Your arm's off! No it isn't. Then what's that? I've had worse. You liar! Come on you pansy!" Now Liz was looking at me like I had grown a second head too, and Patty was staring open-mouthed. But Kid was smiling. He stood up and pantomimed chopping off my right arm. He said, in an exact imitation of King Arthur, "Victory is mine!" He knelt down on his invisible sword, and began intoning solemnly, We thank thee Lord, for in thy merc-" Patty whooped as I kicked him lightly in the butt. "Come on then!" I cried, prancing around the coffee table. "What?" "Have at thee!" I shouted, darting at him again for another kick. Kid skipped ahead a few line's for Patty's sake and cried, "Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!" "Yes I have!" I cried, jumping around him with my hands behind my back. Patty was rolling around laughing, while Liz just stared at the ridiculous display before her. "Look!" Kid shouted, pointing to my imaginary arm on the ground. " 'Tis but a flesh wound." I said, starting to break character at Kid's imitation of Arthur. It was perfect, the body language, his facial expression, his indignation at me still trying to fight. He seemed to slip his character too for a second, just looking at me. Then I kicked his butt again. "Look, stop that!" He said, once again Arthur. "Chicken, chicken!" I shouted at him.

This continued for quite awhile. At some point Kyle and Alex had come down to watch, and they had joined in laughing. Even Liz was almost to the point of tears, his hand clamped to her stomach. And still we continued, passing by the black knight seen, and moving to the burning witch scene. It ended with his swooping me off my feet and pretending to stab me. I collapsed in my death, and the world froze. The only sounds were the muffled laughter of the younger kids and me and Kid's heavy breathing. I realized this was a little awkward, and looked up at him. He seemed to realize it to, and gently put me on the couch. Then I started giggling. And I couldn't stop. And everyone else was laughing again. Kid stood frozen for a moment, then collapsed next to me and laughed too. I stared. His laugh was deep and rich, like dark chocolate. Liz and Patty stopped too and stared. Then the surprise passed and we were all laughing.

We spent the rest of the evening showing everyone else the movie we were playing, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Patty passed out shortly after the Knight's Of Ni, and Alex after Lancelot tried to rescue the not-so-fair "princess". Liz fell asleep during the ending credits. By then it was late, close to one in the morning. Kyle scooped up Liz and carried her up the stairs. I looked over at Alex and Patty, who had curled up together like puppies, and didn't have the heart to move them. Kid got up and stretched silently like a cat. I followed him, and we stood there, awkward again. Then I hugged him, and whispered in his ear, "You must bring me a shrubbery." He exhaled shakily, trying to stay quiet. He mastered himself, and whispered, "If you so wish, it will be so." Then he brushed past me upstairs. I stared after him. That certainly wasn't in the script.

I woke up in the pitch dark. I sighed, then sprung out of my bed and padded down the hall to Kid's room. He was mumbling again, and his hair was tousled into the most adorable fashion. I walked over and shook him slightly. "Kid, it's just a nightmare. It's ok. I'm here." He slowly opened his eyes, and looked at me. Then he started to smile. "What?" I asked, confused. He sat up and and grabbed my hands, grinning. "It wasn't that dream." Kid said happily. "It was just a weird Monty Python nightmare." I smiled too. "So it wasn't that bad?" "No." he replied. "It was nothing compared to that one. It just didn't make any sense, and I was completely confused." I giggled, and he smiled at me. "Then goodnight." I said, fixing a stray hair as I got up from the side of the bed. He lay back down, smiling. "Goodnight Ash." he said softly.

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_I would have updated this a few days ago, but there was aside error with my account. Anyway, please please please review! Thanks for reading :)_


	18. Chapter 18- Red and Green

_ thanks for feedback guys :3_

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I woke up to the slight patter of snow against my window. I smiled at the peacefulness of the morning. I glanced over at the calendar. "22 of December" it read. I got changed and pulled on my snow boots. I wanted to buy my presents for my friends before they got up.

I ran out the door, and spun around in the soft snow. I laughed and tried to catch one on my tongue, but all I managed was to get hit in the eye several times. I walked, noticing the footprints already on the street and realized I wasn't the only early riser.

I walked into the mall and shook out the snow in my hair. I headed for the toy store first. I bought Legos for Alex, and looked for giraffes. I didn't see any she didn't have, so I bought some fabric at the little store across the hall. If you can't buy it, make it. Then I just window-shopped. I found some beautiful nail polish that changed color with your mood, and bought Kyle a soft black sweatshirt. I went into the bookstore, and found an old novel crammed in the back called "Trickster's Choice." The back looked interesting even to me, even though I'm not much of a reader. I just never have the time. I went into the music store, and found the perfect pair of headphones for Soul. They were black with orange accents, and had a Kishin soul on either ear. For Tsubaki I bought a camera, since she was always borrowing mine to take pictures of BlackStar. As for BalckStar himself, I walked around for a while before seeing a go T-shirt in the window that said, "I'm a Star!" in neon blue. I laughed, but knew he would like it anyway. Finally, I went back into that weird symmetry store. I looked around for a while, but nothing seemed right. So I walked into the last store left, the art store. Ok, I know you usually don't look for presents there, but I was a little desperate. And ironically enough, that's where I needed to go. There was a small canvas propped up against the wall, and it gave me an idea. I grabbed some paint and left, fingering my change. Would it work? Maybe.

I opened the door to the house silently, and carried the gifts into my room. I wrapped them all quickly, and hid them under my bed. Then I brought the fabric upstairs with my camera. I looked through all my pictures until I had three picked out. Then I began to sew.

I heard the house wake up around me, but I kept sewing. Eventually, I was done, and I admired my handiwork. They weren't perfect. Actually, they were really cheesy, with the stitches everywhere. But they were cute, in a weird way. They were little miniature stuffed dolls of Patty and her partners holding hands. I stuffed them back in the bag, and crept downstairs.

I was in my doorway, when I heard, "Why are you sneaking into your own room?" I turned to see Kid looking at me curiously. I pulled him into the room and closed the door. Then I silently pulled out the dolls and handed them to him. He raised his eyebrows, then smiled, stroking Patty's hair. "It's for Patty." he guessed, and I nodded. He gave them back to me, and I hid them in one of my drawers. "She will love them." He said fondly. I nodded, smiling. "I hope so." I said to as he opened my door. He just smiled at me as he closed the door behind him. I placed the dolls in a box and wrapped it, and hid it with the other presents. Then I left my room to see where everyone else was.

I found them setting up red and green decorations. Well, that's what they seemed to be doing at first glance. Really, it looked like they were putting them on only for Kid to move them or fix them. Alex saw me and jumped down from the chair he had been standing on. "We are having a party!" he hipped excitedly. "Actually," Kyle corrected from across the room, "Lord Death is having a party. We are just attending." Alex rolled his eyes at his back and I laughed. Alex clambered back up to his high post, and I walked over to Kid, who appeared to be more-or-less in charge. "How can I help?" I asked. "Since you have some respect for symmetry, can you do the entry hall? I don't trust any of theses idiots to do it right." he said sarcastically, glancing over at the "idiots" in question. I chuckled and nodded, then passed him to get some ribbon and tinsel. I grabbed a high chair, considering I am the shortest of our household, and carried it all the the hall.

The rest of the day was spent decorating the house. Towards the end, Alex and Patty were just throwing stuff at each other. Kid got frustrated as Kyle joined, dragging Liz too, so I threw some at his head. He rolled his eyes and turned back to fixing a streamer, only to start to get wrapped in ribbons and bows. He struggled, but eventually he gave in and joined our play. We his behind make-shift forts and threw the empty streamer rolls and ribbon-holders as bombs. Liz hit Kyle, and he staggered slowly to the ground, making hysterical noises as he "died." Alex and Patty just thew things randomly everywhere, making the room a sea of read and green. That is, until Kid hit them both on the back of the head and they fell down laughing. I attempted to keep up, but eventually just hid behind the couch, seeing as my aim was awful compared to theirs. Unfortunately for me Kid saw me hide, and scared the crap out of me when I turned to see why everything was so quiet. Then we all ganged up on Kid, and he fell in mock agony, moaning. We cheered our victory, dancing around like lunatics.

By the time we the evidence of our war cleaned up, it was dark outside. Which, it being Winter, actually wasn't really saying anything. Anyway, it was around 6pm, so we ordered two pizza's and went our separate ways to prepare for the 25th. I went back to my room and locked my door, then took out my art supplies and me laptop. I searched through all me photos until I found I had forgotten I had. It was of DWMA far off in the distance, with the sun gleaming on the sand. I had taken it up in the air when I was goofing off and flying- before I was being chased, that is. I remember marveling at the symmetry of the scene. I laughed softly, the put the picture on full screen and started to paint.  
I'm really not an artist. I can promise you that that painting was off from the picture in many many ways. But, it was symmetrical. I had used rulers and compasses and T-squares and fine-balled paint pens, but it was done. I put a cloth over it and put it in the closet. Though I knew Kid wouldn't search my room, if I left it out he might accidentally see it.

By this time it was night. I put on my soft pj's and climbed into my bed. But I tossed for a while. For some reason the room felt empty, and cold. It was lonely. I drew back the covers and passed for a bit. Then I lay back down and tried to convince myself it was just a weird feeling. But I apparently wasn't alone in feeling this way.

I heard the door creak open, and saw a shadow come into the room. I froze, ready to fight or flee. "Ash? A-Are you awake?" Kid asked softly. I sighed in relief and answered, "Yea. What's up?" He figited, and then said in a rush. "Have you ever had one of those feelings like you're completely alone in the world? And you try to shake it off, but it never goes away... My room felt so empty, and... Could I sleep with you? N-Not that way, I-I mean. Just n-next to you..." He trailed off, embarrassed.

"It's ok. I've been felling that to, actually." I said softly. He just looked at me. "We'll, c'mon" I said, moving over and patting next to me. He sat down on the edge of the bed, still nervous. "I'm not going to bite you. It's not like this is new." He nodded and lay down. And when I drifted off to sleep, everything was warm and soft and... perfect. Just like him.

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_Please review!_


	19. Chapter 19- Preparations & Premonitions

I woke up slowly, reluctant to leave my bed. I rolled over and hit something. Oops. Right, Kid was there. I started to roll away, but he followed my body heat, snuggling into me. I sighed, rolling my eyes. He always acted like he was 17 or 18, but in sleep he was a child. I opened my eyes- to see him looking at me. Ok, maybe ha hadn't been asleep? There was a little pause, us just looking at each other.

"Good morning." he said, pushing himself away from me. Ok, maybe he had just woke up, and snuggled to me in his sleep? Oh whatever, it didn't matter. "Morning." I replied, getting out of bed and stretching. He smiled and watched, then left the room.

I made the bed and took a shower, enjoying the slow morning. Then I got changed and went downstairs. There was note on the table. "Dear Ash, we have all gone shopping. See you soon!" Well, that explained why the house was so quite. I took the time to eat and put the finishing touches on my gifts. I was looking at the decorations in the hallway when I realized something. There wasn't a tree! Of course I had to fix that. I went to a tree farm on the edge of town and bought two, and put them in the two corners of the ballroom. Then I began trimming and decorating them, making them as symmetrical as possible, which is actually more then you would think. By the time I was done, a few hours had passed, and still no one was back. I got bored and attempted to make Christmas cookies. They tasted great, but they really didn't look anything like reindeer. I shrugged and put them on the table.

I sighed and went upstairs. I turned on the radio and listened to some music as I finished my homework for winter break. As I was finishing the last one, dissection, I heard the door open. I rushed down the stairs to see my friends smiling and laughing, carrying over-loaded bags with their tops firmly hidden. "Cookies!" Alex shouted and ran for the plate. He promptly sat down on the floor and munched happily. Patty went to join him, and I smiled at the pair. I pretended to try to look into one of their bags, and they screeched and ran over to them, hiding them behind them. I laughed and went upstairs, and everyone went a different way to get to their bedroom. I went the longest way, up into the attic and down the trapdoor that led strait into my closet. I found it when I first came here, when I was mapping the house and finding all possible exits. It was really old and dusty, but it was hidden, and more importantly, mine. None of the other rooms that I know of have this, or at least that I can find. I fell onto my bed, letting the music wash over me. I was so relaxed I could have fallen asleep. But before I could, Liz rushed into my room.

"Ash, you do know that tomorrow is the party right?" I nodded, smiling. "Well it's formal, so we need to go dress shopping!" she said excitedly. I groaned and rolled over. She laughed and dragged me out of my comfy bed and out the door, barely letting me grab my boots and coat on the way. Patty caught up within a few minutes, leading Maka and Tsubaki. We exchanged greetings, and followed Liz to the mall, again. I was beginning to seriously dread going here.

We walked into the dress shop, and everyone scattered... Except for Liz. She dragged me by the arm and shoved a ton of dresses into my arm, and pointed towards the dressing room. I only got away by showing her she didn't know my size and all those dresses were to big, (not to mention preppy and ugly). I ended up following Tsubaki around, because she was always looking for advice, (which basically consisted of me telling her she looked great in everything) and she didn't pile me with dresses. In the children's section I saw a plain black dress, no shape or lace or anything, but Liz found me and wouldn't go for it. She pulled me towards the formal dress section, and I groaned. "Why can't I look in that symmetrical store?" I asked. Liz rolled her eyes. "Because that store doesn't have dresses, since it was for Kid." "Oh." was all I said in response.

We found Maka at the changing rooms. She had just walked out in a beautiful green dress, which brought out her eyes. "You look great!" I said. She blushed, making her already pretty face even more beautiful. "Thanks." she finally replied. Tsubaki came over a dark pinkish/reddish dress. It looked a little revealing, but it was Tsubaki. She's the only one who could get away with it. She and Maka walked towards the counter, while Liz and I looked for Patty. It usually isn't a sign when you don't see or hear her for more then a few minutes.  
In the end I found her curled up asleep in the children's section. I woke her up gently, and she followed me through the maze of dresses back to her sister. Liz was admiring a blue dress on herself, and handed one to Patty. "Why are you getting the same dress?" I asked, following close behind them. "Kid." Liz said simply, and I smirked. While the girls tried on their dresses, I went to the back of the shop. I walked through the maze, trying to find something that wasn't frilly or ugly or pink. Liz called out from behind me, and I turned.

Both she and her sister were wearing the blue dress, which brought out their eyes. But that's not why they called out. Liz was holding a another dress. It was purple, with black lace accents. And it looked way too small. "Are you sure you know my size?" I asked, eyeing it. Liz laughed, and pushed it and me towards the changing room. I sighed and shrugged. It didn't hurt to prove it. I closed the door and pulled it on. It actually did fit, kinda... if you counted a dress this tight appropriate. I mean, Tsuabki could wear it, but not me. I turned to tell Liz and Patty, but stopped when I caught sight of myself in the mirror. The dress was really tight around my waist, and it was sleeveless, accented my boobs. It made me feel like I needed to cover them now. I wrapped my arms around them as my eyes traveled down my body. The dress billowed out at my hips, forming a long ball gown skirt that flowed elegantly to the floor. But the worst part was the back. It was completely open, all the way until the skirt. I burst out of the dressing room, protesting. "No way! This dress is way too revealing! I'm not Tsubaki!" Liz and Patty just stared at me. Finally Patty said, "You are wearing that. You have to. You look gorgeous!" I blushed, overing my face with my hands, then switching back to my boobs. Liz laughed and pulled my arms down, looking me up and down, spinning me around. My skirt shot out, and I tipped and pushed it down. Liz pulled my arms away again and spun me slowly, letting the skirt fly around me. She smiled at me, and simply, "It's symmetrical." I glanced down, surprised. I hadn't even noticed. Liz pushed me back into the dressing room, and I changed quickly, pulling back on my bra and hugging it. I came out with the dress, gathering myself to protest again, but Patty grabbed the dress and ran. "Hey!" I shouted and tried to follow her, but Liz grabbed me, laughing. "Stop struggling. Kid will love it." I blushed, and she grinned at me. She sure knew how to shut me up.

I hung the dress in my closet when we got home. I knew that tomorrow Liz would be going crazy over me, since I had never put on make-up before or really did anything with my hair. There had never been any reason for dressing up. I sighed and closed the door.

The stars were burning bright outside, and the night looked beautiful. Except the moon was grinning at me, and a drop of blood hung from it's tooth. I shuddered and closed the curtain, trying to shake the image from my mind. Which didn't work. I paced, trying calm myself, but it was so creepy. Like a foretelling of horrors to come. Finally I gave in to my heart and walked down the hall to Kid's room. I swung open the door, and he looked up from a book he was writing in. He put it away hurriedly and smiled at me. "You feel it too?" he asked softly. I nodded wordlessly, and he patted the bed beside him. I crept over and lay next to him. He turned off the lights, and he slowly put his hand on my arm. Instantly I felt all my tension fall away, and I slipped into darkness.

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I will keep it short. REVIEW. PLEASE. :)


	20. Chapter 20- Breathless

_Hello my wonderful readers! I would like thank some people. No, I'm not saying this story is good enough for that; I just wanted them to know I was grateful. And yes, I know I'm not supposed to do this in the middle of the story, but I felt like it was needed. First, I would like to thank my many friends who have encouraged me. So Kyr, Ming, and Tori, all you take a bow. And I would like to thank Thane, for giving me actual material ;P He knows what I mean. And last, I would like to thank all you people reading thisEvery time I get a review I feel like there is an actual reason for me writing this. So thanks. Well, that's it. Enjoy!_

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"Get up Kid get up- Oh!" someone shouted. "Oh hi Ash. Well, you get up too!" Patty shouted, probably from the doorway. Her feet pattered away down the hall, humming jingle bells. I heard Kid mumble something about mornings and asymmetry as he pushed himself up. He shyly nudged me to wake up. As if Patty's shout hadn't done the job well enough. I opened my eyes and smiled at him, and he visibly relaxed a little. I rolled to my feet and left his room, for his sake and mine. I had no desire to watch him change, no matter how close we were. Were we close? It seemed like it...

We didn't have to prepare for the party until tonight. We would exchange presents after the party, right before all thermopile with family left to see them for the holiday. Even Lord Death would come home for at least a few hours. Alex and Kyle didn't have anywhere to go since they grew up in an orphanage. And I certainly wasn't going to wish Kou Merry Christmas. Though if I knew where Ashura was I would have loved to go see him...

Everyone was already downstairs when I got there. Kid was locking the doors that led to the other parts of the house. I knew that there would be alcohol at the party, and we didn't really need drunk people getting lost. The others were in the kitchen, trying to help make food. Most people brought something, but there were a lot of people coming. I joined Patty, who actually seemed to be the only one who was actually a good cook. Kyle and Alex cut things/cleaned vegetables/did other odd jobs. Patty and I did the actual cooking. And Liz arranged the food, and was later joined by Kid. We chatted happily, bustling around the kitchen and laughing every time there was a traffic jam. Even in a big kitchen, six people is a little too many.

Soon Maka and Soul showed up, followed by BlackStar and Tsubaki. Tsubaki had brought a ton of food, and Maka had brought some too, so we decided that was plenty of food. Then we split up to get changed and ready for the party. The guys used the living room, and Liz led us up to the room nearby. Turns out it was designed just for preparing for parties! I ran upstairs and grabbed my dress and hairbrush, then followed the giggling Patty back down. Liz opened up a closet, which was completely full of make-up, and started putting other own. She was very fast, since she said she had planned everything as soon as she bought her dress. Tsubaki and Maka started their own make-up too. Patty just played with the blow-dryer, and I just brushed my hair over and over again, looking helplessly at the make-up. They looked like tourer tools.

Liz finished first, and grabbed me and sat me in one of the specialized chairs. Her make-up looked beautiful, though I saw her with less all the time. I tried not to squirm as she looked from me to her closet. Finally she nodded and grabbed an armful of the stuff, and I eyed them with for nodding. She laughed and without even looking started putting on something called foundation. She explained to me what each thing did as she put it on. The mascara was to make my eyelashes look longer, the blush was to add rosy ness to my cheeks, and the eyeliner made my eyes stand out more. I actually discovered that my eyes were not just some dark brown, as I had guessed since I hadn't looked close. They were actually dark grey, with flecks of red and purple. She berated me on how lucky I was to have interesting eyes as she put on layer after layer of eyeshadow. Last, she put on dark purple lip-stain, which seemed a little extreme to me. But when she finally let me look in the mirror, I don't recognize myself. My eyes looked huge, and the color shone out. I looked so much older it was scary. She grinned at her handiwork, and showed me off to the other girls like I was a work of art. Which, in a way, I was.

She moved on to help Patty, who looked a little clueless. I went to help Maka brush out her hair, since she was busy with her make-up. Soon Liz had moved on to Patty's hair, and I started to help with Tsuabki's. I couldn't do much, but I could hold her hair in place and retrieve bobby pins and hair products for her. Liz pulled me away to do my hair. I protested and said it was fine down, but she would take none of it. She started pulling and twisting, and I was sure she was pulling all my hair out. She was spraying and pulling and pinning like mad. Meanwhile helped the other girls zip up their dresses. Even Liz paused to put hers on. They all looked beautiful in their own right. Liz and Patty's eyes' sworn out like beacons from their face, and their blond hair matched their dress perfectly, making it look like it was sparkling. Or maybe there really was glitter in it, who knew. Maka's dress drew the attention to her face, and away from her "lack of tits" as Soul would say. Tsubaki looked as sexy as ever, revealing without ever seeming to be actually aware of it. I complimented them as they fussed with themselves, and I was sure they were all thinking of a certain someone they wanted to impress. I could imagine Kyle nervously running his fingers through his hair, wanting to impress Liz, and I almost giggled at the realism of it.

Finally Liz let me go, and I cautiously touched my hair. It was all up, with small strands doubling back over to hang down. I turned and looked in the mirror. And stared. All of my had been pulled up. Each strand had been pulled through all the others until there were only a few inches left. Then they had been spiked out in an arch around the mass of strands. Ok, I know I'm making this sound horrible. But it looked amazing. Liz pushed me towards my dress, and I self-consciously turned as I pulled off my clothes and slipped on the dress. The low neckline was accented by me hair being up, and I wished it was just plain down, so I could cover my exposed chest. I turned to look at Liz, maybe glare and tell her this was her fault, but they were dragging me out the door.

I let myself fall to the back of the little crowd, walking slowly and carefully in the shoes Maka had let me barrow. They were "only" two inch heels, but I had never walked in any heels before, so to me it was like walking on a super high tightrope on a windy day. Slowly I became used to the feeling, but didn't make much effort to catch up to the rest of my excited friends. To tell you the truth, I was completely nervous. One, I was wearing a dress that looked like it belonged to a hooker, (well, maybe not that bad) and two... well, to put it simply, Kid.

"Heyyo guys!" Patty shouted. I looked up quickly, but I couldn't see because of the height of the other girls, and my apparent lack. They were even taller since most were wearing 5-inch heels. There was an awkward silence for a second. Both groups were examining each other, either shocked or just looking, I couldn't be sure. Finally Kyle broke the silence. "Wow Liz. You look... amazing. Not that you don't usually." Liz blushed, and then the guys were escorting the girls to the ballroom. I hung behind, hoping to sneak in and not be noticed.

When the crowd had finally passed, I walked out of my little hiding place behind a statue to go join them all in the chaos- and saw Kid. He looked extremely hot, as usual. He had on a different black suit, all black actually- his tie and even the rose in his vest pocket were black. But more importantly, he was staring at me. I blushed played with my hands behind my back, forgetting about my exposed chest for a second. "I-I didn't pick it..." I stuttered, staring at the floor. I heard his footsteps walking closer, and saw his black shoes almost touch mine. He gently took my chin and nudged my head up. I looked at him, expecting- I don't know, disgust maybe?- and saw him just staring at me. I blinked. I definitely wasn't expecting that.

His face was devoid of expression, but behind his eyes there was a war going on in there. Then something gave, and he whispered hoarsely, "You are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen." I blushed even more, but maintained eye-contact, barely. He leaned down the slightest bit, and kissed me. Automatically I closed my eyes, and his lips caressed mine. Then he leaned back up, smiling at me. I didn't know what to do. What to think. I was shocked and and breathless and- dopily happy.

He extended his arm, and after a second of confusion, he took my hand and put it on his arm. I smiled up at him, and we walked into the ballroom together.

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_And awwwww's kick in ;P At least for me. And there Tori, they kissed. ;) Please review!_


	21. Chapter 21- Violins

Now time to finish the day :) love you all!

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There were tons of people. It seemed like the whole town was in the room- and yet it wasn't crowded at all. People were dancing and eating and talking and laughing, and I instinctively smiled. Kid started to walk towards our friends, but stopped, his eyes closed, brow furrowed in concentration. It only lasted a second, but I could tell something had just happened that I missed. Kid smiled apologetically at me, and whispered, "I will be right back. I forgot, Father wanted to speak with me." And then he melted into the crowd, my arm still raised. I shook off my weird feeling and went to join the others.

Just as I came over a song started. I didn't know it, but the others obviously did. They grinned, and before I knew what was happening I was being dragged onto the dance floor. The girls were twirled from guy to guy in a line, each guy either flirting or making a face, all in joke of course. Usually the less pretty girls got the most flattery. Before I knew it Soul was twirling me across the floor, then handed me to BlackStar, who did something crazy fast with his feet, trying to teach me. Then Kyle was lifting me into the air, and I laughed and spun my arms, forgetting my dress. He almost threw me to Alex, who just jumped around and spun me around with him, and my sides burned from laughing. I saw the other girls being passed around, eventually stepping off to the side when they had gone past the end of this crazy line. Alex basically pushed me towards the next guy, and I stumbled, still laughing. Someone's arms caught me, and I looked up to see Kid smiling at me. He began an more fancy and old dance, and gently guided me through the steps. I smiled and adjusted to his rythem, and he raised his eyebrows at how fast I was catching on. He began to take me through more complicated steps, and I did my best to keep up. Obviously it was more then he expected, because he was grinning subconsciously. Then he finished by spinning me out towards the other girls, and I could feel my dress spin out and I blushed, trying to shove it down as I joined the other girls. Kid just smirked at me. As I watched the others finish I noticed Kid kept his pace slow and danced simpler steps with the other girls, and they seemed to have trouble even with that. The dance ended with Kid spinning Maka over to us, and the music faded away. We reformed our little group, and talked of random things. The conversation was light, and every time it would stray into something too serious Maka would introduce a new topic with grace and seeming ease.

Eventually Soul broke off, because Maka kept bugging him about playing the piano, and Tsubaki and Maka followed him. Son after BlackStar, Alex, and Patty snuck away together, to do some sort of mischief. It wasn't until then that I realized Liz and Kyle had disappeared at some point. I looked around, and realized me and Kid were alone. I looked up at him, and he smiled. There was a comfortable pause as we both listened to the intro of the next song. I immediately smiled, recognizing it as "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. I swayed involuntarily, humming along. Kid looked at me, then up at the dance floor. "Can I have this dance?" he asked, bowing before me. I giggled and nodded my head, and he led me to the center.

We danced long after the song was over. If I didn't know the song, he did. We chatted and compared our favorite artists, and found out we both had the same passion for music, if a little different tastes. Eventually we fell into companionable silence, and I slowly laid my head against his chest and closed my eyes, letting him take complete control. I could hear a small fluttering in his chest, not a heartbeat, but more a pulse of energy every few seconds.  
We finished dancing as "Blowin' In The Wind" by Peter, Paul and Mary sounded it's last chord, and that was just because the party was over. We had been dancing for three hours strait. I reluctantly lifted my head, and we walked slowly through the crowd to the corner where we had met our friend's before. And sure enough, most every was already there. Liz and Kyle arrived last, their lips were a little red, and I suppressed a giggle. I waited for someone to tease them, mainly BlackStar, but the said bluenett actually looked slightly jealous of the pair. Tsubaki glanced at him, but he just turned his face away, blushing pink.

"Okay!" Maka announced when all the party guests had left. "Let's all head t the living room to exchange presents!" There were cheers from Alex and Patty, and they raced ahead as we separated to dig our presents from our hiding places. I went the back way to my room, just in case. I pulled out the colorful gifts, and brought them back up to the attic. I found the unlit chimney leading to the living room, and dropped them down. I heard a few gasps from below, and I laughed as I jumped down after them. I managed to keep my dress down and not land on anything, surprisingly. The chimney could have fit four of me side by side and still be comfortable. I picked up my presents and swung out into the room, dropping them next to the couch to sit next to Alex, who was bouncing with excitement.

Once we were all settled, Maka started talking. I guess she was basically the official organizer of all events. "Ok, for Ash, Alex, and Kyle, here is how we exchange presents. First, we all give each present to their new owner." A flurry of passing ensued, with all of us trying to pass off our presents and pile our own simultaneously. When this had died down, Maka continued. "Now, starting with Patty, just because she always wants to go first, we will open presents one at a time, going around in a circle, clockwise." Patty cheered and grabbed her first present off the stack.

Opening presents was a blur, since everyone went so fast and hugs needed to be exchanged for each present. I lost track of what all my friends had gotten each other. At one point Patty shrieked and tackled me, so she must have liked the plushies. I got a black necklace from Liz, a black giraffe from Patty, an auto-graphed photo form BlackStar (which was typical him, I laughed, but at least I could remember him) a new memory card for my camera from Tsubaki, a really cool looking series called the Star Kingdom from Maka, and a beautiful black pair of headphones, the big ones that go around your head, (which seemed dumb, I didn't have an iPod). I saved the symmetrical present for last of course. I slowly opened it, and looked down at a shiny new black iPod. It blinked on as I softly touched it. A welcoming screen popped up, and then the music screen came on. And somehow, all the songs me and Kid had talked about were on here. "How...?" I asked softly. Kid chuckled behind me, and I spun to look at him. He just smiled at me, then turned to open my present. I bit my lip. My present could never make up for what he had just got me. I subconsciously stroked it as I watched him meticulously peel away the wrapping paper, revealing the painting. DWMA shined through. And if you looked closely, you could see everyone standing on the balcony, looking up at me as if they could see me.

Kid just looked at it for a while. I guess he was trying to find a flaw. But I had made sure to keep the symmetry exact, down to using a magnifying glass. I crept up behind him. When he looked up to where I had been, I hugged him from behind, pushing him hard against my chest. After a second of surprised silence, he put his arms around mine, saying softly, "Thank you. This is amazing."

"Awwwww!" Liz said from above is. I quickly let go of him, and Kid rolled his eyes at Liz. She laughed and skipped away, holding a golden locket to her chest, while Kyle watched happily. I went back to my iPod and plugged in the headphones. As I put them on Kid leaned over me and picked a song from the playlist. Immediately a symphony of violins sung into my ear, and I sighed in bliss. Kid laughed quietly and went to help clean up. I closed my eyes and just listened.

The song ended, but I left my eyes closed, listening to my friends say goodbye as they went off to visit their family's. I heard the door close, and the girls shout and run upstairs. Then Kid walked over, and before I could open my eyes he had scooped me up and was carrying me upstairs. My eyes opened in shock and I clung to him for a second, trying to regain my balance. Kid just smiled and put me on the bed, sitting down next to me. I reached to take my headphones off so I could hear whatever he wanted to say, but he forestalled my hand, placing it back into my lap. I looked into his eyes, and he stared back at me. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek, then the other. Before I could react he was gone.

I smiled and pressed my hands against the warm spots, then flopped onto my bed. I don't bother changing. I just passed out.

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Review. Please. :)


	22. Chapter 22- Merry Christmas- What?

Let me tell you, waking up in a dress is not comfortable. Especially when you didn't get under the covers, and the skirt kind of flopped up, revealing to all you panties... And when your partner is standing above you. "Alex!" I screamed, shocked and furious, shoving down the dress. He just grinned. "Breakfast is ready!" he said innocently, then skipped out of the room. "I'm gonna kill you Alex! I screamed after him. I heard him laugh, then call down the stairs, "Hey guys, what I just saw!" ""SHUT UP ALEX!" I shrieked, shaking with embarrassment. He laughed again.

I quickly changed and rushed downstairs, only to be pulled into the living room by Alex as I passed. I struggled, but he held me with ease. "You-!" I shouted, grabbing his head. "Hey, ow! Stop that! Relax, I didn't tell them anything!" He said, yelping a little. I let go, and then something struck me. I looked him up and down. "Alex... You grew." And I didn't mean an inch or two. He had shot up almost four inches. And his voice had dropped a bit too. "Yea." he replied happily. I sighed and reached up to ruffle his hair. "Puberty sucks." I said fondly, and he smiled down at me. Then he bounced up again and pulled me towards the others. I stayed behind for a second. that bad feeling was back, even stronger. I hadn't noticed it with all the commotion. I sighed and shook it off, and followed Alex into the kitchen.

Kyle, Patty and Liz were already eating. Kyle and Liz were talking soft and low, while Patty dug into the piles pancakes surrounding the table. They all looked up as we came in. Patty's eyes got huge. "Alex?" she said, staring at her playmate. He laughed, until his voice broke, and he blushed red. Patty smiled and patted the seat next to her. "Where's Kid?" I asked. "I tried to wake him up, but he wouldn't move." Alex said through a mouthful of pancakes. I rolled my eyes at him, and headed back up he stairs. "Just don't make out to long!" Liz sung up after me. "Liz, shut it. You are no better. And we don't!" I called back, my tone joking. That shut her up.

I creaked open Kid's door. "Good morning Kid!" I called in softly, looking at the bed- and found it empty. I searched the room, finally landing my eyes on his small figure. He had his headphones on, and his head in his hands. "Hey, Kid. What's the matter?" I said, louder. He jerked his head up, schooling his face into a calm mask.

"Oh, good morning Ash. I'm fine." he said, half smiling. I walked over to him. "Come on, I know you. What's up?" He sighed and pulled out his headphones. "There has been madness detected on the moon. It is probably the Kishin. So sometime soon we are going to have to go. Father doesn't want to disrupt everyone's holiday, but if it really is the Kishin..." I just blinked at him. "Well, if it really is a Kishin then can't they just send one person?" I asked. He shook his head. "It's not a Kishin, it's the Kishin. He is more powerful then 10 normal Kishins combined. And he also collects normal Kishins around him. It will require quite a lot of students to win this battle, and even then successes is not guaranteed." I sat there in silence for a bit, contemplating this. "Well, if it happens it happens, there is no use worrying about it." I said simply, then pulled on Kid's hands. "Let's eat. No one can think on an empty stomach." He blinked, then smiled at me.

Unfortunately, Kid was right. Right after breakfast an alarm ran through Death City, and we all rushed to Lord Death's office. When we got there we were amount a huge crowd of students. Lord Death went strait to business.

"Howdy Kids, I am very sorry to disrupt your holiday, but the Kishin has been detected. Maka and Soul, go get a head start. BlackStar and Tsubaki, you follow. Everyone who is a proficient engineer go work on the air ship. Kid and Tomson sisters, you guys follow, you will be on the air ship with Ox and a few others. Julie-" and on and on it went.

Finally, my partners and I were the only ones left. Lord Death turned to us. "Kyle and Alex, how would you feel about fighting without Ash?" We all gaped at him. Finally Kyle stuttered out, "I guess we could, but why-?" Lord Death cut him off. "Good, then go to the air ship. Ash, come here."

I spun around to my daggers, but they were gone. I ran over to Lord Death. "But sir-" I protested. He waved away my complaints. "Ash, I know who you are." I stumbled back, stunned. "W-what?" "Just listen for a second." he said quietly. "I know you are a witch. I have known since you came here. I recognized you, from when I met you older brother Ashura. But I also knew that you through Ashura. He used to talk about you all the time, and he always wanted to go home and visit you. I'm not sure if you knew this, but he was adopted, which is why he is not like you and your real brother. Anyway, I am sure you know that your family is prone to madness. And up there right now, even Kid will be close to falling to it. If I let you go up there- you might end up killing your friends." I stared up at him, confused and a little scared. He sighed and hugged me. "You are going to stay with me for this. Just don't look at the mirror. You don't need to watch this. Just sit with me and- sleep. It will be over before you know it."

I didn't know what to say. What to think. I wanted to help- but I could never risk hurting my friends. But, why did he want me to stay with him? He seems to read my thoughts. "You will see later why you need to be with me. For this I would prefer not to be alone." I just leaned against him and sighed. I had a feeling this would be a long day.

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Sorry, this chapter is a little short. but we are finally getting to the action! :) I might have to wait for the manga to come out though before I know who kills Ashura... Not that sit matters that much to my story. Anywho, PLEEEEEEEEEEESEE review :)


	23. Chapter 23- Useless

**Try to forgive me for not posting for so long. Still waiting for the update. But I got this much done. Hope the long chapter helps make up for the lateness!**

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You know how in medieval times, the lords and vassals would go off to war a lot? And usually the girls/women was forced to stay behind, to either take care of the house or just sit there, wait for them and look pretty? Yea, well, I have developed a great sympathy for them. Though it wasn't as bad for them. They couldn't fight anyway. But I could. I should be up there battling next to my friends, watching their backs. I mean, I am not the best fighter, but I am almost on par with BlackStar now. Even some of the "not" class is up there. And I am stuck here!

But I can't risk becoming a hindrance to the mission, or worse, seriously injuring one of them.

"They have arrived." Lord Death said from behind me. I turned to look, but he put his hand in front of me. "Don't watch." I sighed, but turned back around to face the entrance. We sat there in silence, waiting. After a few minutes, I heard Lord Death give a quiet exclamation of remembering something. "Right, right. I forgot. Well, I guess I will have to call him back." he mumbled. I looked up at him, and he patted my head before turning back to the mirror. "Tell the airship to bring back Kim and her partner, along with Kid. His partners may come too. We need them." I peeked around him to see a strange patterned teddy bear thing floating in his mirror. "Yes sir." It responded, then winked out of the mirror. Lord Death gently pushed me back around him as the mirror went back to the battle field. And then the silence resumed. About a ten minutes later, Kim and her lantern walked into the room, followed by a frog witch I didn't know and a buff man I recognized as a werewolf. "Yes sir?" Kim asked as her partner transformed. I just watched the werewolf. The frog witch didn't matter, she was weak. But that werewolf was powerful. And that eye of his; it felt like he could see into me. We just watched each other, warily. "Well, all we need now is Kid. You girls, go relax and take a shower. When Kid comes, you're going to open a portal to the witch coven Kim. You will go with her." He said, nodding to the others. The werewolf finally broke eye-contact. "Who's the freaky powerful witch?" He asked. I saw the frog lady and Kim look at each other, confused. "Free, this is Ash. Ash, meet Free." Lord Death said cheerfully. "Oh, and Ash, you can let your soul out now. No one can feel it up on the moon." He added. I smiled a little as I dropped all my barriers, letting my soul whoosh out. Kim and the witch staggered back, and even the werewolf had to take a step back. I sighed in bliss. I hated binding up my soul.

"What the hell are you?" Kim asked softly, warily. I blinked in surprise, then looked down. That stung more then I expected. I felt my soul respond to my emotions, hissing like a fire splashed with water. Kim shrank back, in- fear? Was she really afraid of me? I crawled away from her, scrambling back, away from her, away from them all. What was I? What was I?

"Wowza! That's a mighty big soul you got there. What kind of mix are you? How did you get her?" Free exclaimed, aiming the last question at Lord Death. I bristled. Get me? I'm not a weapon to be sold. As my soul responded to my indignation, Kim yelped and ran out of the room with her partner. I stared after her. So this is what people saw me like. I was a monster. I buried my face in my hands, and my soul dissolved into smoke.  
"Ash is a special witch. Her father was a shinnigami, an old friend of mine. He gave up the life of fighting to raise a family, my son actually. And I didn't get her Free. She came by chance." Lord Death said slowly and firmly, resting his hands on my back. I lean against him, putting my head against my knees. Around Lord Death's body I can see the mirror. I can see Maka, holding Soul high in the air. BlackStar is going at lightning speed. And Kid, Liz and Patty are shooting at a figures I couldn't make out, Kishins most likely. Alex and Kyle weren't on the screen. I turned away.

"I have arrived!" Someone shouted grandly from the door of the office. I look up, and take in the small white figure, which almost looks like an aardvark. But while his appearance is really lame, inside his I could see a huge weapon soul, pulsing with untold power. "Wow..." I breathed out. He looked at me appraising lay, but didn't comment. Free grimaced and stalked out of the room passed him, followed by the other timid witch.  
"Welcome!" Lord Death said, though his voice sounded tight. Thank you for coming Excalibur." Oh. That guy. So this is him. "Of course I came. This isn't something that happens every day."

I quickly lost interest in their cryptic banter and looked back at the mirror. Maka had gone into genie hunter mode, hurling herself into the milling Kishins. I watched, frustrated with my weakness.  
"Kid is coming, so it would be easier on everyone if you hid for a bit. And you might want to hide your soul Ash" I heard Lord Death say. Excalibur sighed, and I heard his footsteps move somewhere to my left. I didn't turn around. I just went to work covering my soul in hundreds of barrier while I watched the battle, like a bird stuck in a cage high above the forest.

The door to the office burst open. "Why did you call me back? I need to help them!" I turned to see Kid stalk in, his anger and frustration roiling off of him, undertones by a bleak feeling of helplessness. Liz and Patty followed, a little out of breath. I quickly attached the barrier I had been working on, hoping it would be enough. Luckily, Kid seemed so flustered he didn't notice the faint smoke my soul was giving off, or notice me at all. His bright gold eyes were focused on his father.

Lord Death spoke slowly, trying to calm his son down. "You are the only one who can do this Kid. The girls are in the shower, so just wait a minute while they-" Kid ran out of the room before he could finish, followed by his partners. Lord Death sighed. "What am I going to do with him..." he asked the cartoony clouds quietly. I smiled involuntarily.  
Less then a minute later Kim and her partner walked in, both of them blushing furiously. Kid followed, his head down, followed by Liz and Patty. Free and the other witch weren't far behind. Lord Death clapped his hands together, making everyone jump except Free and Kid. They were too busy eyeing each other with distrust. Kim looked up at me, and then turned away, shaking a little. I pushed myself father behind Lord Death, making myself as unnoticeable as possible. "Well, now that everyone is hear, we might as well start. I need all of you to try to negotiate with the witches. More over, Kid will be doing most of it, because a shinnigami is needed, and I most certainly can't go." Kid eyes flared, but he remained silent. "I don't want to go with him! He's a pervert!" Kim said, glaring at Kid. He sighed and looked down, his neck turning slightly pink. "I said I was sorry already. Can we stop wasting time? I have to get back up there." He said. I stared between the two of them. What had Kid done?

Everyone gathered in a circle in front of the mirror. Kid looked at each of his "teammates", until his eyes caught mine. "Why are you on this mission?" he asked, surprised. Then he turned to his father. "She can't go, it's too dangerous-" Lord Death quickly interrupted. "She isn't going. She is here for something else." Kid's body relaxed a little. Kim stopped forward. "All of you turn around. Especially you!" She declared, glaring at Kid. He rolled his eyes slightly and turned, holding his hands up in surrender. Everyone else followed- except for me. I watched, curious. She shut her eyes tight and began to wright in the air... With her but. I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.

Finally she stopped moving, and a portal appeared in from of the mirror. "Ok, let's go!" She said. The others turned around, and one by one they filed in. I started toward the portal too, but Lord Death held me back and he said quietly, "You can't go. They would try to rip you to shreds. Even if you can kill them all with ease, we need them to help us. Kid will do just fine." I sighed and stared anxiously at the mirror as it showed the group led before hundreds of witches. I watched as they sentenced them each to hundreds of deaths, which didn't make a lot of sense to me, but still made me panicky. I paced, fighting with myself, longing to run after them. I nearly did when they sentenced Kid. But as I started toward the portal, I saw Kid stand up, ripping of the magical chains. And then he begged them. I stared in amazement, and a little anger. Why should he beg these people who would love to kill every good thing in this world? But then I saw the head witch. Her assistant was a bitch obviously, but the head witch... I could feel her power through the still open portal. And she was good. Amid all these mixed witches, she was good. She held up a hand and said something, and all the jeering in the crowd silenced. Then they were all unchained and escorted out. I sighed in relief and sat down heavily.

Moments later Kid walked through the portal, followed by the rest. "It's done. They will come." he said confidently, then walked out. The others followed close behind. Lord Death seemed relieved, but I could tell he didn't trust the witches. But I did. I trusted the leader already.

* * *

_Not the best ending, but it will do for now ;)_


End file.
